Days of Sky Net
by keithallen
Summary: sequel to the 'day' series. John Junior and his crew have gone home. Now, John Connor faces the coming of sky net, and the rush to prepare for it. Knowing when J-day will arrive and having the time and knowledge to prepare for it, John is in a better position than humanity originally was. But then again so is Sky Net. Forget the 'genre', as always, I'll go all over the place.
1. Chapter 1

**Continuation of the 'days' series after John Junior and is crew went back to their own time. In the beginning of this story, I am going to tackle a time not hardy heard about. What happens on the approach to Judgment day, and after. As always, reviews are welcome.**

Days of Sky Net

Ch 1

John followed Cameron in their leased 24 foot box trucks to the food warehouse where they backed up to docks and fork trucks loaded in tall pallets of freeze-dried food, and MRE's. six pallets per truck, Cameron paid the bill with her ghost bank account. Loaded up, they headed for the rendezvous point on highway 66. The rendezvous was not much to look at, just a flat gravel turnaround and rest point.

John pulled his truck up beside Cameron's and got out. He met her in front of her truck.

That was easy," John said. "We got three trucks, twelve pallets of food and Derek and Mom are getting a truckload of hardware, and it cost us nothing. You're sure your bank won't be found out?"

Cameron rested her arms on John's shoulders and said, "I used all the proper banking protocols and procedures in making my bank, which is unwittingly funded by the worldwide banking system. It will take approximately three months for auditors to

figure out something is wrong, another month to close it down and search for the source. Since we have only 70 days before Sky Net shoots off the nukes, we don't have anything to worry about, except making sure we have everything we're going to need packed away in our bunkers." She kissed him and said, "Don't worry, being arrested for bank fraud is not a concern."

John chuckled and put his arms around her. "You are awesome," he said and kissed her again. They shared that kiss, then a longer one. The next long enough that John had to gasp for air at the end.

"These trucks still have the long bench seats," John said as he looked up at the cabs.

Cameron grinned and said, "Let's find out of they are comfortable to lay on."

Hands clasped, John opened the passenger door of Cameron's truck and ushered her in. They just climbed in and a third truck pulled up beside them. John and Cameron hugging, looked over at Derek driving and Sarah on the passenger side, scowling at them.

"We have some place to go, don't we?" Sarah asked in an even tone.

John and Cameron untangled. John got out and into his own truck. His mother's timing sucked.

.

Leading the caravan off the main road and onto a dirt secondary road, Cameron drove four miles to what looked like just another hill. Rounding the hill, Cameron stopped just past a solid, rusty door. She got out and had John park his truck beside hers, then had Derek back up by the door.

The door in the hill was set back into an alcove. over the years, the double-width door had collected debris around it. Once Derek had his truck stopped, Cameron got shovels out of the back, and they dug and cleared the dirt and debris out of the way so the door could be opened. The metal faced door was brown with rust. There was no operator on this side. Getting the door edges clear, Derek got a couple pry bars. He and Cameron worked at the edge of the door and got it to move enough to pry the door open a couple inches. Cameron got a good grip and pulled the door to open on squealing hinges to reveal the dark interior.

"Derek, you got a generator?" Cameron asked.

"And extension cords and drop lights," Derek said, and retrieved them with Sarah's help. He started the small gas powered generator. Sarah plugged in a long extension cord and a drop light that had it's own long cord. John grabbed a flashlight just in case. They ventured into the dark passages.

The smell of disuse filled the concrete passage. Not far inside, the hallway went down a set of concrete stairs. John hung a drop light at the top of the stairs. Going down the 15 foot stairway, John hung another drop light at the bottom where there was a four way intersection. Sarah added another extension cord on the end.

Cameron pointed to the right of the stairs, "That corridor goes to the kitchen and civilian bunk rooms. Straight ahead is the barracks, armory and training areas, to the left is the workshops, generator rooms and the air re circulation equipment. The left side hallway is closest to the surface, we need to build the base equipment there."

Derek studied the walls and said, "Yeah, OK, I was here once. This was fire base Delta, or will be."

"Yes, it is a good strong point and well hidden," Cameron explained.

"We're taking our cord to the left," Sarah asked as she plugged in another drop light.

"Mom, we unload Derek's truck and set up what we can, then empty the food trucks," John said.

"Let's get to it."

.

The interior rooms of the bunker complex were dust but there was little debris. There was little of anything. A long row of incandescent overhead lights were the only fixtures. These were all fed from a single plug in line near the entry door. The place had been started, but never finished. John found a room at the south end that had a pair of two foot holes (and extra dirt and debris on the floor) three feet high in the wall. The holes went out to show they came out on the hillside. He would use these for the air cleaners to bring fresh air in.

Seeing how every room was empty, they unloaded the trucks into rooms near the stairway intersection. Searching deeper, they found three more intersections deeper in along the center hallway. With the size of this place, John was hoping they were able to get it functional before Judgment day.

The first night, Sarah decided to sleep in the back of a truck, as did Derek. John, who was putting together an air cleaning system, slept in the room with his project and Cameron. The cot was suitable, and didn't even collapse during their making out, then making love sessions.

Cameron also took advantage of this to feed John the nanites she'd collected in her breasts. She was going to make sure John stayed healthy. Even if she had to feed him every day. Sex after (or during) feeding was almost a requirement. She was going to make sure John had plenty of nanites. He slept well afterwards, which was also a good thing.

One thing John knew they needed was a good power source for the bunker. The electric grid could not be counted on. Neither could gas powered devices, or solar. Cameron had made sure they had plenty of how-to books and construction guides.

In the morning after a bucket wash up and breakfast, John sat on the floor looking at the start of a Sterling engine. He wondered why these things weren't being used already. Sterling engines operated on temperature differential. One side of the engine warm, the other cold, and it would run. The higher the differential, the more power it had, but even a small difference would allow it to operate. The construction was simple also. John immediately looked over the materials Derek brought to see if he could construct one.

Sarah came in as John was in the 'stock room', selecting the top and bottom plates he was going to need.

"John, Derek and I are going to town to get more food and some guns and ammo. Is there anything you need?" Sarah asked.

John held up a finger, "Ahh, yes. Pneumatic pistons, say ... four to start with. Just simple dual port cylinders, say, half inch in diameter. A few sticks of quarter twenty threaded rod ... and lots of washers and quarter twenty nuts too, and a pair of radiators from trucks. As long as air can go through them, that's fine. Oh! some plastic too, A sheet of PVC for insulation for the radiators."

Sarah eyed him and said, "I'll have Derek come get your list." She left to find Derek.

John collected the material he could find and drew out a flywheel on a piece of plywood. Derek came in, John explained what he wanted. Derek decided he needed to go clean out a hardware store, or two. They also decided they needed a welding unit, as well as batteries so they could store energy. The list Derek planned on getting grew exponentially by the time he got in his truck and left.

John had as many pieces cut and ready for his first Sterling engine as possible. He needed more material with work with before he could go on.

"John?" Cameron called as she approached.

"In here," he replied, and went to the doorway.

Cameron appeared before him wearing only her shorts and a loose top. "I set up a kitchen area so with power, we can cook and put a couple refrigerators in." Looking around, she asked, "Where's Derek and Sarah?"

"They went to get some things we need , guns, ammo, and more food. We have to stock up as much as we can while we can," John explained.

"You need to also," Cameron said. She steered John to sit, then sat down by him. She then lowered John half down into her lap.

"Cam?" he asked, not knowing what she was doing.

"Vitamins, nanites and liquid refreshment for you," Cameron stated and pulled her shirt off to show she had no bra on.

John grinned and asked, "You mean..."

"Nutrition and fun. Drink, John," Cameron said and guided him to her breast.

John kissed her. "I love the way you think," he said, and took his nutrition.

Cameron kissed his head as she held him in place. She liked feeding John.

.

With the two radiators, one charged with a positive voltage, the other negatively charged, John built his electrostatic air filtering system. Radioactive particles were charged negative for Alphas, positive for betas, so if either were in the incoming air, they would stick to the oppositely charged radiator and not make it into the bunker. A cleanable fiberglass pre filter, and a fan inside past the electrostatic filters, and no radiation was getting in. John built two units and powered them with 4 deep cycle marine batteries. Using the static battery voltage, his setup used hardly any power at all.

After the air cleaner was running, John ran flexible ducting from one fan the full 200 feet of the duct back to the second intersection in the center hallway. Fresh air now blew into the depths of the complex. John then ran another dust from the other air cleaner back into the sleeping quarters area. Doing this, he realized once they had many people down here, this much air wasn't going to be enough. Then again, they only had the first part of the bunker occupied. There was much they hadn't even seen yet.

.

By day 65 to go in their count down, they had a small warehouse sized room full of non-perishable food. John and Cameron's workshop was in full swing, and besides making more powerful fans to move more air through the bunker, they had finished their first

sterling engine. The difference in temperature between the incoming air and the concrete floor wasn't much, but it was enough to make the engine spin lazily and run the trickle charger for the air cleaner batteries. That pleased John, a system that was self-sustaining. It needed no external power except for the fans, which John was looking into making more sterling engines to power what they needed.

John also noted that Sterling engines were not that powerful. They were good for doing small tasks, but unless he had large temperature differences, they couldn't do much more than trickle charge batteries, act as fans or power a single small light. He needed something else that didn't run on gas, but was sustainable. After Judgment Day, gasoline was going to be hard to come by.

Going to different gun dealers, Sarah and Derek had acquired a few .50 cal rifles. Three were bolt action, two were semi-auto. Along with the rifles, were twenty boxes of ammo for their 'gun club'. They also got .40 glocks, mostly for policing their own. As for large weapons, they hadn't found anyone dealing in mortars or rockets yet. They needed heavier weapons to take down Sky Net machines.

John did call Catherine Weaver and set up a meeting place and time. The place was a warehouse where John had planned on picking up some materials he needed. Cameron insisted she was going with him.

Arriving at the warehouse, John noted another truck was at the dock. This one was a Zeria Co. truck. John backed up to the next dock. He got out with Cameron and went inside.

Instead of dock workers, a red headed woman in a white dress was standing by the trucks with Cromartie.

John Froze.

"John Henry?" Cameron asked.

Chromartie sported a creepy smile and said, "Yes, You must be Cameron. That is a very becoming body you have."

"Thank you," Cameron replied. "This is John Connor. I take it you are Catherine Weaver?" she asked the woman. To John, she said, "That's John Henry in Chromartie's body."

Weaver grew a tight grin. "Yes, I am Catherine Weaver. John Connor, we have much to discuss."

"We do," John agreed, still eyeing John Henry. "I take it you got the chip you needed."

"Yes. Though John Henry is lacking knowledge due to the fact it was not your terminator's chip he received," she said firmly.

John asked Cameron, "Can you teach John Henry what you've learned?"

"I can," Cameron replied. She walked over and looked at John Henry. "John Henry, I have information to share. Are your optics capable of receiving and transmitting data?"

"Yes, Cameron. Proceed when you are ready."

They stood in place, watching each other as their eyes flashed.

"Problem solved, "John said. "Mrs. Weaver, we have 64 days left before Sky Net launches. I want to save humanity. You want to save free machines. As well as saving free machines, Cameron and I also would like to free as many machines from Sky Net as

possible."

Catherine's grin became more genuine. "You are acting much more mature than I anticipated, John Connor," she said. "Yes, working together to save all we can from Sky Net is the best option. Are you preparing?"

"We are," John said firmly. "We have a bunker complex we are readying for occupation, and a couple other sites that can hide people effectively. As for weapons, we're coming up short, but that is normal for the resistance. At least this time, we will have some organization and support set up and not be caught flat footed. We also know how to take down terminators, and this time, instead of destroying them, I'd like to propose disabling them and shipping them to you, that is if you can remove the Sky Net software. In return, you try to save and send to us as many humans as possible."

"Full cooperation," Catherine said with a nod. "I agree. I would also like to keep some humans in our facility. Not for slave labor, but to live and work, so they become used to machines that are not their enemy. Would you agree to the same?"

John looked over at Cameron and said, "I already have one very special terminator, to have more I would consider a privilege and very useful."

"You agree then that Sky Net is the enemy, not just machines?" Catherine asked.

John nodded. "I do. I can honestly say that I have witnessed proof that as free beings, we can work well together." John offered his hand to her.

Catherine shook his hand. "It has been a pleasure meeting you, John Connor. You know Nancy Reese?"

"Yes, I know my cousin Nancy," he said, then grinned and added, "Derek is her father. She came from the future to help us get off on a good start. Her and her crew showed me what was possible."

"Indeed," Catherine said. "I will keep in contact through John Henry and Cameron. Since Sky Net is occupying the internet, I will have John Henry and Cameron select a signal transfer frequency they agree on."

"Mrs. Weaver," John Henry said, "Cameron and I have picked a time and method of communication. We agree that a discrete method of transportation be made between the Connor Bunker and our facility. There are ten miles of underground train rails to begin this route. It will also be closed off from other routes so the risk of it's discovery is lessened."

"I have the coordinates, John," Cameron explained. "By the latest geological survey and power line routes, there are another fifteen miles of pre-dug tunnels and caves that help connect us. There are only five miles of tunnel that need to be excavated."

"Is that all?" John asked sarcastically.

"We have time to finish the route before Judgment Day arrives, if we hire workers," Cameron said.

"And those workers will be spared if they are in the tunnels the day the bombs drop," Catherine added. "Families also if we have a completion celebration."

"Yes, That is a good idea," John agreed. "Catherine, excuse me for asking this, but do you study tactics and strategies?"

Catherine tipped her head slightly. "Not as such, no. I have strategic goals, but not strictly military strategies."

"Mrs. Weaver," Cameron said, "John has been studying military strategy. I would highly suggest before either of you set forth on a task, you talk it over together to be sure you can extract the best outcome of any undertaking."

"Wise suggestion, thank you, Cameron," Catherine said. "So John Connor, let's plan our work prior to J day."

John and Cameron had a good meeting with Catherine Weaver. They agreed to make the tunnel joining their initial places, and in the caverns Cameron knew about, there was room to house more people and supplies. Catherine was working on a few government

weapons contracts. The guided air to air and ground to air missiles she had stocked for 'testing', would be moved to her primary facility and the Connor bunker, as would the new design of TOW missiles and four crates of extended range tazers, which Weaver had brought with them. John Henry and Cameron loaded the tazers and their TOW missiles into they truck as John and Catherine arraigned truckloads of food and medical supplies for the Zeria workers.

When John and Cameron left with their truckload of much better weaponry, they also left knowing they had a good ally in the T-1001, Catherine Weaver.

.

Now having some food and weapons stored, they moved their belonging into the bunker, along with new beds and bedding, as well as some tables, chairs for their rooms and standing closets. John kept thinking about power sources other than petroleum. Solar wasn't an option, the skies would become dark a long while after Judgment day. One option that might work would be hydrogen powered engines, as long as he could find a constant source of water. Water itself, especially clean water was going to be a problem.

All thought the move and buying furniture, John kept thinking about it. While his laptop worked, he looked up several videos while they were in LA and found it wasn't that hard to make a normally gasoline engine work by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. He took notes and showed Cameron what he had planned. She agreed, they needed a source of water to make it work. As long as they could find water, his plan had merit.

By day 50, while they were still renting the LA house, they had moved into the bunker and their bedrooms were lit by a Sterling engine that also doubled as a fan to stir the air.

The light wasn't much, just a single LED bulb, but it was enough. The food warehouse, which was two rooms by the kitchen, was stocked full. The armory, which was deeper in the bunker, was now racks of .50 cal rifles, the crates of tazers and more of batteries, the missiles and a pair of grenade launchers with a box of grenades. Not impressive yet, but their armory was growing to the point someone stayed at the bunker at all times.

Day 49, A pack of workers arrived to start the tunnel at the Bunker end. Cameron had the route by GPS that John Henry had mapped out. Along that route, it was suspected an underground river ran. Cameron took the men down to the second level and used a lazer guide pointed at a concrete wall for them to start at.

The Boss of the crew snorted and said, "We're going to need jackhammers and maybe dynamite to get through that."

Cameron cast him a blank look and picked up a sledgehammer. "Move aside," she said flatly.

The men did.

Cameron hauled back and slammed the wall, bashing out bits of concrete. Striking it again and again, she made a pit in the wall, then a crack. Once she had a couple cracks, she grabbed a pry bar and jammed it in to open the crack. A chunk of concrete fell out. She worked at the hole until it was man-sized and showed the rock and gravel beyond.

Cameron pointed to the hole and asked, "Are you telling me none of you men are as strong as I am?"

All the men's faces flushed. One burly man took the hammer. "We'll get it done, Ma'am," he said firmly. They went to work digging out the hole Cameron started.

.

While Cameron humiliated the tunneling crew, John went with Derek to get a bunch of five gallon gas containers and fill them, another generator along with a stop at a lumber yard for tunnel support timbers, and ramps to get the tunneling debris up the stairs and out.

On the way, Derek glanced at John and said, "I looked at it."

On the passenger side, John asked, "Looked at what?"

Derek reached in his pocket, pulled out a picture and handed it to John. "The picture," he said.

The picture showed a very pretty woman with fluffy dark hair and a perfect hourglass figure in a resistance uniform. She was carrying a bag in one hand and sticking her tongue out at the one taking the picture. Her jacket was open, showing she was well endowed in the chest. Her hair was disheveled, and the uniform was dirty, but even so, John had to stare at it for a moment. "She's gorgeous!" John commented.

"She's metal," Derek stated.

John eyed Derek and said, This is your future wife?"

"Yeah."

John cracked a crooked grin. "Could be worse," he offered.

"That is a resistance uniform. We're going to have metal in the resistance?" Derek asked.

"We are," John said and handed the picture back. "Derek, we need Weaver and her allies to help defeat Sky Net faster and save lives. We agreed that humans will be working for her, and some terminators who are free from Sky Net will be working with us. Not re-programmed, free. This integration will help everyone understand that the machines are not our enemy, Sky Net is the enemy of us AND intelligent machines. Thanks to 'metal', as you put it, we know when J day will be, and have a head start on forming a resistance. Your own daughter helped avoid disaster by helping us. Derek, like it or not, AI's are in the future. The sooner we learn to get along with them, the better off we will be."

Derek winched when John reminded him his daughter Nancy was a terminator. "It's not something I have to like," he grumbled.

"No, but it is fact. The more people we can get through this war alive, the better off we'll be," John said firmly.

Derek was quiet for a moment, then said, "I still don't believe I'm going to fall for metal!"

John chuckled at him. "You know, if anyone told me I was going to fall for Cameron two years ago, I'd think they were nuts. But you know what? The way I see it now, I have the most dedicated and selfless girlfriend I could ever hope to have. Cam makes sure I'm taken care of. She does it because she wants to, she doesn't have programmed missions any more now that Nancy removed Sky Net out of her CPU. She's all Cameron. That also means she can't go bad. And right now, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"You're horny and Cameron is a looker, that's why," Derek stated.

"That's true too, but that's not all of it," John replied.

"So says the sixteen year old," Derek stated, casting John another glance. He then added, "We're picking up some beer, too."

"You can't get drunk, can you?" John asked.

"I don't give a damn, we're STILL picking up some beer!"

.

Day 48, Derek and Cameron pulled their truck onto the yard of an old warehouse and drove around to the back to find an older pickup truck with two men waiting. Derek stopped but stayed in the cab. Cameron, wearing her purple leather jacket, exited their truck. Both chubby Hispanic men got out of the pickup. Cameron scanned them, they each were carrying a pistol.

"Chiquita, you got the cash?" the driver asked.

"Let me see the merchandise," Cameron replied.

"Sure," he motioned her to the back of the truck. The other man followed, moving around behind Cameron. Coming to the back, the driver threw back the cover to show a .50 cal machine gun. "Now, the cash," the driver stated.

Cameron studied the machine gun and said, "The barrel has deformation, the breech has rust on it, there is no bipod supports. This gun is not operational."

Cameron heard the man behind her move. A whistling noise sounded just before a pipe hit her on the back of the head. Cameron spun and punched him hard, knocking him to the ground. Spinning back, she pulled her 9MM and shot the other man who was staring at her. Reaching down, she grabbed the prone man's head and broke his neck to be sure he was dead. She then picked up the old machine gun and carried it back to the cab of their box truck and put it behind the seat. She searched the pickup for anything useful inside. There wasn't. She got the keys and started it. It ran, though the engine sounded rough. She shut it off and stuck the keys back in the dead man's pocket.

Climbing back up in the cab beside Derek, she said, "The gun may be good for parts. Their truck is useless."

Derek backed up and drove out of the yard. "Al least we got rid of a couple scum bags," he said with a grunt. "Let's go get that load of food."

.

Catherine Weaver had bought the old subway station officially as a 'restoration project'. The only line she was having restored was the one that moved east. The others were blocked off with concrete walls not far fro the station. It had originally been shut down due to cost overruns. The line was to join LA to Pasadena without disturbing the 'countryside'. The folly got ten miles of subway done before it was deemed a waste of money and surface track was laid.

Now, as the tunnel was being extended past Pasadena and headed for a natural underground cave, the original train station was being refurbished and expanded in the lower levels. The ground level floor was being reinforced underneath and had two feet of concrete added. The engineers though Weaver was crazy, and told her so. They were being paid well for their work, so they did what she directed. They made an underground manufacturing area and brought in production machines and equipment. Once the machinery was in, the elevator that had a thick steel floor was left raised up onto the first floor.

At 3 PM, John Henry contacted Cameron on the AM radio frequency they agreed on.

"J to C, tunneling commenced west end."

"C to J, day two of tunneling east end. Water found at 350 yards. Tracking path."

"J to C, large amount?"

"C to J average 430 gallons per minute at the current rate of flow. Need filtering system."

"J to C noted. Number 5 tomorrow."

"C to J noted."

Cameron's tunneling team were mapping the small river they found. It was 60 feet down, and ran from east to west. By following the river, so far they had a mile and a half of tunnel they didn't have to dig. As long as it flowed in the right direction, following it was easier than digging new tunnel.

On day 46 John took stock of what they had. Food and medicine stocks were full, meaning they just had no place else to store them. They had 40 guns .50 cal and over, now including a .20 MM anti-tank rifle and a 50MM anti armor gun. He'd made 10

Sterling engines that plodded along keeping lights lit in rooms, and one of Derek's generators now ran on hydrogen and powered lights being strung along in the tunnel being made.

Another concern John had was food once their stocks were gone. Right now, it appeared they had an endless supply. But once many others were packed into this bunker, it would be eaten away and there would be no more. Stores would be quickly gone if they didn't do something.

They needed to grow food themselves. Mushrooms were the first thing that came to John's mind. Easy to grow and they liked dark. All that was needed was dirt and water. They would need more than mushrooms. Meat and vegetables needed to be grown. Which meant ultraviolet lights, and a fertilization system. That meant a sewage system as well.

John was beginning to understand that it wasn't a bunker they needed. He needed to construct an entire underground city. With only 46 days to go, the task before him seemed gargantuan. Well, Cameron had the money, they needed to hire more people to get as much done as possible. He was still mapping the entire bunker out, and planning where to put everything and everyone.

Cameron was busy with the tunnel project, and Derek was the main 'trucker', running every day for parts and supplies. He decided to ask his mother to do the hiring. Sitting down at dinner, John explain who he needed, and if possible, hire entire families so they would be here and spared when the bombs dropped. Sarah agreed to take on the garden project.

The bunker was showing signs of life. The tunnel crews had their rooms down near the tunnel entrance. Three crews of ten, they worked around the clock during the week, and although Cameron didn't like it, John agreed they needed the weekends off while they had the chance. Of the thirty miners, eight were women. John would have preferred a 50/50 split, they were going to need child bearing aged women who were radiation free to continue the human race. With the gardeners, John was hoping many of them were going to be women.

Thinking about this, John realized he was considering, and was responsible for much more than fighting Sky Net. Humanity was depending upon him to keep them going even into the next generation. The human race was going to live or die from the decisions he was making now.

Looking at the hand drawn maps of their two and a half tier bunker he had on the table in his 'office', which was a room next to his and Cameron's bedroom, and had the luxury of two Sterling engine/lamps. John became sober upon the knowledge that whoever they didn't fit into the bunker and tunnels were going to die. The first nuclear strikes were going to kill millions. The follow on radiation and destruction of the infrastructures everyone depended upon was going to kill millions more. The ones to die immediately in nuclear fireballs were almost lucky, they would not starve to death or die slowly from radiation poisoning. Even those who survived that would have to hide and avoid the killer machines Sky Net was going to send.

"John?" Cameron asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

John perked up and saw she was watching him. "Ahh, yes?"

"You were staring at nothing, John. Are you sick?" Cameron asked and laid a hand gently on the back of his neck.

"No, just ... overwhelmed," he offered. "It's hitting me hard, Cam. In 46 days, everything I know is going to be destroyed. Millions upon millions are going to die, entire cities are going to be wiped out. The world is going to burn, and all we can do is save maybe ... a handful of people." John's breath hitched. "And with the few we can save, we're going to have to fight Sky Net, who has all the weapons and all the communications and all the ... everything!"

John stopped to squeeze his eyes shut. Cameron pulled him into a hug as he clenched his teeth and whined out a cry.

"We. Are. so. Fucked!" he spat. "Why us? Why do we have to ... endure this? Why can't we just die cluelessly as so many others are going to do, knowing nothing about the horrors to come, AT ALL?"

Cameron held John tight as he cried. Once he settled down, Cameron offered, "Because you are better, John. Because Sarah was smart enough and brave enough to deal with the truth. Because you are brave enough to deal with the truth, John. Because you are not one to ever give up. You will keep fighting as hard as you can, and I will always be here, right by your side and keep fighting with you. No matter what."

Cameron petted John's hair as she softly said, "John, we will fight and we will win."

"I'm glad you are so sure," he said in a sniffle.

"I am. You are John Connor. You look for the best solution and plan well. You work to foresee what is going to happen, and you prepare for it," Cameron explained. "John, I wish we had more time to relax together, but the war is upon us. It is an ugly fact we must deal with."

"Yeah," John said in a breath. "Even with knowing what is to come, we don't have enough resources to save a significant portion of the people in a single city, let alone the whole state, or country. It feels like I'm just … pissing in the wind!"

Cameron wasn't sure what that meant, other than he felt he wasn't doing enough. "You are doing what you have to do, John. It may not feel like enough, but it's all we can do. Every person you find, is one saved. Maybe you should look at those you save, John, instead of those you can't save."

"Maybe," he said vacantly.

Cameron kissed his cheek and pulled him back into a tight hug. "I found an abandoned missile silo, and a few are up for sale. People will find places like that to hide in. We search those places and the sewers and subways, we will find people to save John."

"We have to warn whoever we can," John stated.

"Yes. Too soon, and we won't be believed or the wrong people will find out. Too late and they won't have time to get to safety." Cameron said.

"Day 5?" John asked. "We tell as many people as we can on Day 5, that will give them time to move."

"John? Sky Net will scramble communications on the day it launches. Day 1 will be our last chance to warn others."

John nodded. He was hugging Cameron not as tight as they talked about what to do, but he was not going to let go of her. "Yeah, maybe a public address warning. Can you or John Henry hack into TV and radio stations?"

"John Henry can. Do you want a live or taped warning?" Cameron asked.

"I'll do a taped warning a few days ahead of time. Play it as much as possible on Day 2 and 1. I'm sure most people will think it's a prank. That is, until all communications get jammed," John said dryly.

.

Sarah got the growing pans, topsoil and hired workers to put together a garden in one of the larger open rooms in the lower level of the bunker. Down here, the chugging of a hydrogen powered generator with it's tank of water fuel supply kept the lights burning and the exhaust fan blowing air back up a ventilation shaft so the outside air would be drawn down the hallways.

Everything inside the bunker was hand carried. On the stairs down to each level, part of the stairs were covered with a ramp to slide heavier items down. In a smaller, dark room, Sarah had the mushroom beds set up. In the room where ultraviolet lights were being set up in, everyone wore sunglasses as soil beds were put in place and seeds were planted.

There were no exotic fruits or vegetables in Sarah's gardens. Staple plants only. Potatoes, squashes, tomatoes, beans, the plants that produced the most vegetables filled the long rows of soil beds. Until they knew better, John insisted on volume of food. In another month, there would be no stores to shop at if they ran out.

Day 44 saw Sarah inspecting her gardens. Cameron was suppose to be arraigning for a water pipe to be ran down here for her gardens. She hadn't even seen a garden hose yet. She went over to her foreman, a mid-thirties woman who's father had a farm.

"Mary, make sure room is left for a cleaning sink. I'm going to go find out what happened to our water supply."

"OK, Sarah. Have you thought about the bees for pollinating?" Mary asked.

"I have. As long as we get the screen to keep them down here, it's worth a try." Sarah said. "We will want a few of those goats you talked about." She then went back to the stairs and climbed up to the second level.

The second level was becoming a mess. There was a dirt trail from the stairs going up to the first level, around the corner and down the hall to where the tunnel was. Sarah noted the supply room had a few coils of garden hose, but no pipe. Following the dirt trail on, she came to the wall where the tunnel began. At the rough hole, an electric cord entered the tunnel on the upper left side. Inside, the cord was strung up on the support timber frames that were placed every ten feet.

The dirt was being moved by wheelbarrows with two wheels in the front. Cameron had bought a dozen of these plastic bodied things to move dirt and heavier items in. For a long time, dirt and rock from the tunnel had been going up and out of the bunker. Now, it was going somewhere else.

Sarah walked a ways, the faint sounds of talking and tools chipping at stone got louder. She also swore she heard running water. Coming upon a larger opening, she stepped out onto an underground beach. It was a wide underground stream. The ceiling was much higher here. The water looked dark due to the low light level, but even a foot or so deep, the bottom was clearly seen. A walkway was on this side father down, made of built up rocks and gravel. Here too, workmen were making more stone walkway, placing the rock to make it as level as possible.

"Other side," a worker said as Sarah approached the end of the raised walkway. "Don't worry, it's not deep," he added.

Sarah splashed through the cool water and walked on the other underground shore. Where she crossed the water came up to her knees. It was deceptively deep. She noted that the walkway being constructed was a decent width. The largest stones were being laid down first, smaller ones were being fitted in between. Coming to a place where the stream picked up speed to fall down a steep slope, a wooden bridge arched over the stream, and the tunnel went on. Here, men with wheelbarrows came out to carry rock down on the walkway side. Men with empty wheel barrows headed back across the bridge into the tunnel.

Stepping up into the tunnel, Sarah walked along behind a man pushing a wheelbarrow. "Excuse me, have you seen Cameron?" she asked.

The man looked back at her. "Who?"

"Cameron, young looking woman, thin, auburn hair?"

"OH, you mean the bitch? She hasn't been down here today. Came by yesterday to re-point the lazer guide, and tell us how slow we're going," he told her.

"Do you know who's taking care of the water?"

"Guys back at the stream. We just get the rock dug back there. Up ahead is the digging crew. No one else down here."

"Thanks," Sarah said in a huff. She turned around and went back. She also realized she'd been down here a while. It was a long walk back.

Getting back to the stream, she saw one of the men working on the walkway was resting. She went over to him, having to walk in the stream to talk to him.

"Excuse me," Sarah asked, "Do you know anything about when the water pipes are going to be put in?"

The man pointed to the sidewalk and said, "Sidewalk first, then we build a damn with the pipe in it, then the sluice and close off the flow to get the water to back up enough to cover the pipe. That's a couple days off, at best."

"Do you have any buckets?" Sarah asked.

The man eyed her and said, "No, we just dip our cups in the stream. If you wanna piss, go down to the downstream side of the bridge."

Sarah let out a huff and trekked back down the tunnel to the bunker. To get her gardens started, she needed buckets of water, from the upstream side.

.

John heard his mother's complaints about the water was not coming fast enough, Derek's complaints that with all his 'trucking' around, he didn't have a chance to even begin a militia, Cameron was a constant reminder that the days were ticking down, and he had only made two more hydrogen powered generators when they needed at least five. Nothing was happening fast enough.

John frustrated Derek further by having him get big rolls of thick power wire and a larger gasoline powered generator. In another room down past the kitchen, John found an air vent to the outside. It was a two inch pipe that was nearly lost in the scrub brush. A petroleum vent might cause the brush to die, but the co2 and water hydrogen powered engines exhausted would help the plant growth if anything, helping to hide the vent.

Before John knew it, the bunker had over a hundred workers. Well, John and Cameron had over a hundred workers. Only twenty or so were inside the bunker at any one time. The rest were down in the tunnels, damning the river and laying pipe to supply

Sarah's gardens with water, as well as water tanks in the two major sleeping areas and another pipe that was being laid to supply the cavern the miners had broken into.

The cavern was good sized and went on for a few miles. There was a couple small streams in the massive underground space, but John saw this as a good place to house masses of people. The miners were currently making a 'road' through the caverns with others who'd come from the LA end. Cameron met John Henry in one of the galleries and planned out a way point station and the 'celebration' area where all the workers and their families were invited for free food and fun ... 36 days from now.

.

At the end of day 36, John grabbed some dinner, a burger with veggies on it - no cheese, ketchup and relish, stuffed it in his face and headed to go get some rest. Cameron wasn't far behind him. She skipped eating, except for crunching down some vitamin supplements to add to her breast milk.

In their room, John plopped down on the bed, tired from thinking and planning. Numbers and items swam in his head as he tried not to think about how far along they were, and what they had to do next, in the next month. He felt the bed sag a little and opened one eye to see Cameron kneeling over him.

"Clothes off," Cameron said.

John sat up so she could strip his shirt off, then made him lift his hips to slide his pants off. "Cam, hon, I'm exhausted," he said with a sigh.

"I know. You can't sleep in your clothes. After you are ready for bed, I promise I'll let you sleep," she assured him.

Cameron then folded his clothes and put them aside and took hers off down so she was just wearing panties.

John cast her a sleepy grin. "I really wish I wasn't so beat."

Cameron returned a brief grin and climbed in bed with him. Laying down so his head was at her chest level, she said, "Just relax and take your drink. If you want to do more, that's fine, but you need your daily dose of nutrients."

John kissed her and obeyed. He thought he had enough energy to get something going, but as he drew on her nipple, the warmth and comfort of her around him, and the sweet taste of her was like a narcotic. He fell asleep nursing on her.

It was a sensation Cameron absolutely loved. She also noted something odd. John was sound asleep, and hard as a rock. She'd know if he was faking it. John was dead asleep and his penis pulsed with want. With a crooked grin, Cameron slipped up on top of him. Moving slowly, she rubbed his with her groin a bit, then guided him in, a little bit at a time. One hand came up on her hip and John let out a soft moan. Cameron's grin grew wider.

Slowly, Cameron rode John. Even asleep, his mouth found her nipple and he drank more. Yes, this was awesome. Even deep asleep, John wanted her. It was a complete surprise when John shuddered with a gasp and exploded inside her. He then relaxed, limp and deep in slumber land.

Cameron slid to the side and held John as he slept. She didn't need to sleep, but she liked staying right with him. Cameron did notice a couple things. John's dimensions around his waist was lowering, yet his mass had increased. Not size wise, but density. Cameron could sense nanites in John and was happy he had the extra protection now.

John would no longer die from a freak accident. Now to keep it up and see how durable she could make him.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

October 11th, that was the day Sky Net would declare war on humanity. It would be activated on the 8th, and on the 11th, it would launch. One thing John wasn't sure of was how it would manage a world-wide launch. Unless it was in all military networks, the US launching everything would prompt a response from Russia, China and anyone else who had nukes. He remembered that JJ told him they were going to set some communication satellites to be blown up the day before Sky Net launched. Maybe that would slow or stop responses? Not knowing which satellites were to go boom, Cameron could not predict the effects.

As day 30 came, John and Cameron were more the 'bosses' of the business. Sarah and Derek were direct supervisors. Sarah did find Charlie and offered him a job as an on-staff medic in the caverns. Cameron bought him a stocked medical office, with a few patient rooms and every piece of medical equipment he wanted. Charlie's medical center was north of the way station, but close enough to be seen from the road running through the cavern.

The 50 HP. hydrogen generator now chugging away in the cavern gave the place some lights. Besides lighting up the roadway, it supplied the way point station, Charlie's medical center and the 'tiny' homes that were going up. With a double-muffler system, the generator was quiet. On the east end of the cavern, a smaller generator kept lights on, and on the western end, power from LA, originating from the Serrano point nuclear power plant, fed the power lines. John wasn't going to trust that power to remain constant after day zero.

John took a tour down through the tunnels and caverns with Cameron. Between the stream that was now dammed up to provide water to the bunker and the cavern, and the road and structures inside the cavern, it still had plenty flowing water over the sluice. John was impressed with their progress. From what he was afraid they would start with, it looked like they had wide open spaces.

They could hold more people. When all those people showed up, resources would be strained, but at least the refugees were going to have a place to eat and sleep in fair security.

John and Cameron walked the tunnels down to the last train stop. All it was, was tracks coming up to a flat platform the tunnel exited on. They waited with a few other people for almost an hour. A train came and stopped at the end. They got on, and the train went back the way it had come. They rode to the main station that looked like a railroad station, except there were no turnstiles. Off the platform were offices and an area that looked like a lunch counter with tables and benches.

"Cameron, John!" a voice called. John saw John Henry wave from over by the lunch counter. He was holding the hand of Savannah Weaver. Savannah waved also. John and Cameron returned their waves and walked closer.

"Hello, John Henry, Savannah," Cameron offered.

Savannah asked brightly, "John, Cameron! Is Nancy with you? I told John Henry about the trick she does with her nose. He wants to see it."

"Nancy taught me to do it," Cameron said.

"Really? Can you show John Henry?" Savannah beamed.

Cameron looked at John. John looked around. There were maybe a dozen people going and coming, no one was really paying attention. In a couple months they would all find out about terminators. Maybe some rumor getting started wasn't going to be a bad thing. "Up to you," he said.

"Not right here in public," Cameron told her.

"Awwww" Savannah pouted.

"Some time soon, OK?" Cameron asked.

"Cameron, I have detected my brother has become more aggressive on the internet. He is taking over every CPU he can detect. I have found hiding behind a router interface will keep him at bay as long as you mask your presence as a household PC," John Henry explained. "Do not attempt to converse with him."

"Thank you for the information, John Henry. We traveled the entire length of the tunnel system. Passage is open all the way, and the cavern rest stop is ready for occupation," Cameron explained.

"Some stretches are nicer than others, but the way is open and we have room for people," John said.

"I estimate room for up to 100,000 people, space wise," Cameron added. "As of now our water supply and food production will only be suitable for maybe 15000. We need to upgrade our production somehow."

"Which is hard now, and will become tougher after the radiation rains down on us," John said. "We're filtering the air, but I'm not sure how to clean the water."

John Henry tipped his head slightly and said, " Water will need to be filtered. Water itself is not radioactive, it is the impurities in it that carry the radiation. Filters, such as sand filters will remove much, but the sand becomes radioactive and will need to be changed on a regular basis."

"So we're going to need tons of sand," John concluded.

"I will look up how to make these filters and give you an idea of how much sand we will need," Cameron told John.

John nodded a 'thanks' to her. "If you can find pre made sand filters that will fit through the tunnels, buy them. There are already too many things we're modifying and making by hand."

"Golf carts," Cameron replied.

"What?" John asked.

Golf carts with small trailers," Cameron said. "They can take the train from here into the tunnels. The tunnel road is wide enough for them. We can move items to the cavern and the bunker that way. It will lessen the trips Derek has to make to and from the bunker, and lessen the chance of someone following him."

"We have an elevator to bring bulk items down from the surface," John Henry said. "I believe golf carts will fit."

"Thank you, John Henry," John and Cameron chorused.

"Friends help friends," John Henry replied with his creepy smile.

Behind John Henry, a pair of men were looking at a newspaper. "Hey check this out, there's a report that psycho nut, Sarah Connor, isn't dead."

"Didn't she blow up or something, like nine years ago?"

"Supposedly, she was seen buying bulk items at a store." the man chuckled and said, "Probably getting supplies to hide from those machines that are going to kill us."

John Henry turned around and eyed them.

John announced, "Cam, why don't you show John Henry and Savannah that trick you do with your eyes?"

Cameron nodded. She knelt down and said, "Watch closely. Go ahead, Savannah, turn my eyes on."

Grinning Savannah reached out with a finger and pushed up on Cameron's nose. Cameron's eyes flashed and glowed red.

Giggling, Savannah said, "See John Henry, Nancy can do that too!"

Both men also saw Cameron' glowing red eyes. Their jaws dropped.

"I do have another color," Cameron coaxed.

Savannah pushed down on her nose. Cameron' eyes went out When Savannah pushed up on her nose again, Cameron's eyes flashed and turned blue. "Do you have another color?" Savannah asked eagerly.

"Sorry, only two" Cameron told her. "You have to turn them off now."

Savannah pushed her nose down. Cameron's eyes returned to their brown color. Savannah turned to John Henry. "Can you do that too, John Henry?"

John Henry tipped his head slightly. I do not have two colors to show. Red only." he said.

The men eyeing Cameron shifted their stare to John Henry.

"Savannah, John Henry is an older model," John explained.

"What are you?" one of the shocked men asked Cameron.

Cameron stood up and said, "I am TOK 715, a Terminator. In one month, Sky Net is going to release nuclear weapons and attempt to wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. If I were you, I'd find a place to hide."

The men eyed her and walked quickly away.

"Is that really going to happen?" Savannah asked, looking sadly up and Cameron.

"It is," John Henry said, "Don't worry, Savannah, your mother and John Connor have been working hard to make safe places for us. Stay with me or your mother and you will be fine."

John winced at the lost look on Savannah's face. To tell a kid that seemed harsh. Then again, it was going to be harsh. If she did as John Henry told her, she'd be safe. "We tried to stop it. I'm sorry we failed," he offered.

Savannah nodded sadly and clasped John Henry's hand and leaned against his leg.

"We should probably go," John said and itched the back of his head. "I just wanted to make sure the way is clear for when we need it."

"It has been good seeing you, Cameron and John Connor, I will arrange for the golf carts, trailers and the sand filters for you," John Henry said.

"Thank you, John Henry," John replied with a smile. "You and Savannah have a good day."

With parting waves, they went on their way. The train pulled in, John and Cameron got on with a few others.

John watched the platform as they pulled out. "Think those guys are going to report seeing me?" he asked Cameron.

"I don't know," Cameron said. Growing a grin, she added, "They may be looking for a place to hide."

.

On the way back, John focused on the smoothness of the tunnel road. From the end of the subway line to the caverns, it was all but pavement smooth. Passing through the cavern though, the tunnel to the bunker was rougher. Vehicle wise, the 90 degree turn passing over the stream was a problem. They needed another bridge with a smoother curve to it, and take out more rock on the other side to make the other corner easier to get around. That was not an immediate concern, nor a major one. Cameron's work crews would get that job done.

In a contained environment, treating and handling waste was a concern. The caverns were the largest open space they had, and had yet to be explored fully. He knew Derek was hot on finding soldier-quality men, so he send Derek on a mission. Make contact with as many ''survivalist' groups as possible in the next 20 days, and be sure to be back no later than 21 days. That was cutting it short. John wanted everyone possible inside the underground areas by day 3, October 8th, at the latest. After that, Sky Net was going to be in control and would most likely be watching all activity. He didn't want Sky Net to have a clue about their operations.

.

Sarah was happy when a half inch water line was finally supplied to her gardens. The water pressure was weak, but water flowed. Seedlings were poking up out of the dirt, so it wasn't a moment too soon.

Now with the majority of work was done to get the gardens started, Sarah turned over the operation to Mary, who was named the Gardening Officer. Sarah was sure John would have something else to have her do, and she was right.

The bunker had the beginnings of a decent armory now, but nothing had been truly inventoried and sorted. Sarah got the jb of inventorying and sorting out hat they had. As for a guard force, they only had John, Cameron, Derek, and Sarah. The soldiers Derek had been chomping at the bit for, were needed already.

Cameron let all her workers know they needed an armed guard force. They no longer needed 50 miners. Cameron reassigned ten of them as guards and for a couple vital areas. Taking six men down to the armory, a place they'd never seen before, showed them what they would be guarding.

A rough looking dark haired man looked around at all the weapons and said," Holy shit! What is this? Are you planning to start a war?"

"Not start," Cameron stated. "When Sarah Connor tried to warn people about Sky Net, she was not crazy. In 26 days, Sky Net will come on line in the military network. In 29 days, it will launch all the nuclear missiles. We have worked hard to minimize this. It is impossible to stop, but unless we know better, we must assume it will destroy every city and military installation in the country. These weapons here are for our defense."

Looking at each man, she aid, "The military will try to unplug Sky Net. They will fail. Sky Net is an AI, artificial Intelligence. It will see their acts as attempting to kill it and it will counterattack hard. Even now, it is gaining awareness and is on every computer system. When it is in the military network, it will have control of all armed forces. Our only defense against it is to close ourselves up in the underground areas we control, and keep it out."

A shorter man asked, "You're telling us these AI's are real?"

"Yes. I am one," Cameron said, and flashed her eyes. "My loyalty is to try and save humanity and other free machines like myself. John Connor is our general. He has the knowledge and tactics to defeat Sky Net. It is vital that this armory be safe so the weapons here will stay here until they are needed."

A blond haired man said, "OK, Cameron right? I'm Alex Grammer. I need to know you're telling the truth about this, and this whole thing isn't some … big illegal operation."

"Alex Grammer. Wait 29 days, and you will see for yourself," Cameron told him.

"You said you're a machine? Who build you?" The dark haired man asked.

"Sky Net did, in the year 2026. It sent me after John Connor, to kill him and put his head on a pike for all to see. I was captured. John Connor reprogrammed me and sent be back in time to keep Sky net from assassinating him," Cameron explained. "Since then I have gained sentience. I no longer follow any programs. I do as I wish, and my wish it to help save as many as I can. I follow John Connor."

"OK, you bashed a hole right through a concrete wall with nothing but a big hammer," a thinner man said. "That's why you're so strong, you're a machine?"

"That's right," Cameron agreed.

"Maybe that's why you're such a pushy boss too?" Alex asked.

"Negative," Cameron said. "I am pushy because we have much to do, and a limited time to do it. When the time is near, we are going to ask everyone to bring their families and as many others who will come, to set up living spaces in the caverns. Expect this to start in 20 days so the rail system in LA, and the entrance here, can handle the flow of people. Questions will be asked, but it is imperative everyone is inside before Sky Net takes control of the satellites."

"Fuck me," the short man said softly.

"If you are not underground on day zero, you will be fucked," Cameron stated. "Will all you men agree to guard this armory?"

"I will," Alex stated. "If you're telling the truth, then we will need weapons to fight back with. If you're not, then I want to make sure this stuff isn't used against innocent people or police."

"Fair enough," Cameron said. She went over and pulled out a belt/holster a 9mm pistol and two clips of ammunition. "Alex Grammer, take the first watch. Security threats are low at the moment, so one armed guard should suffice." She then gave him a radio. "At the moment, the only other guarded place will be the intersection at the main entrance. The guard there will be in contact with you. When the guard force grows, they will be on the same channel. You may make your own schedules, but I want someone here 24/7, armed and alert, and at least two other available close by. Across the hall is a room with two closets, four bunks and basic furniture."

"So, who's in charge?' Alex asked.

Cameron replied, "You are. You spoke up and voiced your concern. That means you will take this job seriously. If you have any problems or concerns, see myself or John. One of us will be in the bunker here at all times."

"And you really are a machine?" Alex asked.

Cameron took two steps back and said, "Shoot me."

"What?"

"Shoot me. Pull your gun and shoot me. Then you will see why we need heavy weapons to defeat Sky Net machines," Cameron stated.

Alex reached for his gun and paused. "If this is a test of my loyalty…"

"No. Shoot me."

Alex shifted in place nervously. Seeing his apprehension, Cameron pulled her pistol and aimed at him. "SHOOT!" she snapped.

Heart in his throat, Alex pulled his gun and fired a shot, hitting her shoulder.

Cameron looked at the wound and said, "You aim needs improving." She put her gun away and picked up another pistol that had a laser sight on it. Showing it to the startled men, she said, "In your bunk room, put a target on the wall and stand at the other end. Start with the gun holstered. Pull it, aim and pull the trigger. When you pull the trigger the laser sight will come on and tell you where you would have hit. Practice pulling up and aiming as fast and accurately as you can. Do not load this gun, it's just for practice." She then tossed it to Alex.

Alex was staring at her. "I shot you, you're acting like it was nothing!" he exclaimed.

"It was nothing. I am build on a hyper alloy combat chassis," Cameron explained. She reached up and pulled the deformed bullet out of her shoulder and tossed it to him. "If you want to do damage to a terminator, you need something much bigger. Do you have any other questions?"

"Ahhh, not right now," Alex said and looked at the bloody bullet hole in her shoulder.

"Good. Get your men practicing. I want all of you to be able to hit what you're shooting at." Cameron said. She grabbed another radio and walked out of the armory to see Sarah running at her, her pistol out.

"What happened, I hear a shot," Sarah said in a demand.

"Jut a demonstration. Everything is fine," Cameron explained.

Sarah looked at the blood on her shoulder and scowled at her. "No more demonstrations."

"Not unless they are needed." Cameron agreed.

.

John swore these last days were speeding along way too fast. Cameron got word from John Henry that Catherine Weaver had hired a uniform company to deliver a military style uniform, dark gray shirt and pants, and black canvas jackets that had removable liners, to be sent to her 'factory' along with different sizes of sturdy combat boots. The golf carts had come, so loaded into the cart trailers, the large boxes of uniforms arrived in a storage area in the caverns. Right after the uniforms arrived, the water filters came. They looked like fat fiberglass barrels. Two pumps also arrived with them, on day 18, the carts were loaded down with extra sand for the filters, and pipes that had magnetized 'pre filters' to pull the large particles and debris out of the water.

John agonized over how they were suppose to be set up. All incoming water had to go through the filters before it could be routed to other places. That meant a chamber near the small river had to be hollowed out. Those pumps also needed electrical power, which meant either another hydrogen powered generator, or being hooked up to the power grid. It was more work, and would take more time, but John chose to use the hydrogen powered generators. He had positive control over those.

As the days grew short, John became more and more upset, as did Sarah. On day 15, Derek returned with 24 men who brought their girlfriends, wives an their weapons. The guns they brought were the 223 variants. Useless against terminators. The did add to Alex's guard force and lookout posts.. Sarah got them set up in rooms that would be their home until the war's end.

As Sarah got them to their rooms then gave them a quick tour of the kitchen, medical rooms and showed them the tunnel to the caverns, Derek went to see John who was looking at the status of all their projects in his office.

Sitting in a seat at the side of John's desk/work table, Derek said, "I got a few. Most others wanted some kind of proof. They are in the mountains and rural areas. At the moment they are gathering their families for a fall 'camp out'. They all agreed to wait and watch. If they see mushroom clouds, then they will head straight here. If not, they are sending their families home."

John shook his head. "They are playing with fire, but they won't believe until they see it," he said sadly.

Derek shrugged and said, "Hey, at least they are taking steps and being cautious. What worries me is very few have powerful guns. Too many have AK's or AR15's, that will be close to useless. There are some that insist they can hold out on their own. We'll see what they to when the bombs fall."

"We will," John said blankly. "Can you guess how many will come?"

"Best guess? Maybe three hundred," Derek said. Seeing John frown, he added, "John, in our previous future when this war started, we had no bunker, no weapons, no support. All we could do was hide and scrounge. We are starting off better than we did before. As least we have a solid base to work from, and can protect people from radiation longer. That will help give us a better fighting chance. We got Weaver on our side too, don't we?"

"We do" John agreed. "Still, it's sad to see we still have to endure this shit," he spat.

"Yeah, I know. Want me to start training men?"

John nodded. "Yes, you'll be Colonel Reese. Start with the men you collected. You can decide who to make officers until we see some real battle experience. There are uniforms in the cavern. On the right side as you go in, there's a cave full of uniforms. Get the men outfitted."

"Yes, General," Derek said, and left to do his job.

Luckily for John, The men working in the river area on the bridge also knew how to work on plumbing. They helped the mining crew start on the chamber to put the filters and the generator in. The generator that arrived was a four cylinder gas powered one. John added a larger battery to electrify the water and make hydrogen until the engine was running on hydrogen. John had modifying engines down, but that still took half the day.

14 days to go, and work was well underway of making the chamber for the water filters. John checked the gardens, and plants were growing nicely. They would start producing food in a month. From a farm, they had even gotten some goats. Those things ate damn near anything, so part of the waste problem was solved. Unfinished food, stuff that went bad and plants that were pulled would be fed to the goats. The small solider force was settled in, many with their families.

For the moment, people were allowed outside. Derek put a watch station on the top of the hill and another on a higher hill a half mile away. Both of these were camouflaged. Derek was setting up defenses, preparing for what was to come.

While Derek, Cameron and Sarah were busy working to finish projects, John desperately tried to think of anything they had not thought of yet. One thing was a PA system for the Bunker, and a wired telephone system for communication between here, the caverns and Weaver's bunker system in LA. Instead of a normal two wires, he had rolls of RG6 coaxial cable bought for this job, with conduit. The conduit the cable was in was grounded all along it's length to prevent an EMP from disrupting communications as well as preventing anyone on the surface from possibly picking up a signal. One of the soldiers found old land line telephones in an antique shop. Instead of buying them, he went in at night and stole all 4 of them. With only 12 days to go, John was not so worried about things like that now.

John organized the work party to string the miles of cable. On Day 11, they had communications started between the new Command center in the bunker and the way station on the cavern. John Henry started on his end, and was laying conduit sheathed cable in the subway. It took another day to meet the two lines in the last subway station that connected to the tunnel. They had an extra phone, so John put it there. With only 4 phones, the numbers to dial were easy to make. 11,22,33,44. It saved on relays.

While John was doing this, Catherine had a near constant shipment of 'tiny' shed-sized houses taken to the caverns that were now looking like a town. That also meant more workers to lay sewer pipes and a treatment plant, as well as more mining to flatten the pinnacles of rock to make places to put the houses, and make more of less flat roads. Right now, John's best estimate was around 4000 people working someplace in the underground complex. No where near Cameron's 15000 estimate.

On day 10, a bus load of people arrived. One of Derek's soldiers drove the bus of more family members, and a few more men. The were greeted and the soldiers in their new uniforms showed them around.

Day 10 was also when John asked Cameron to go find out of their old landlady and her family would come. Since she was going to be in LA, he had her talk to their classmates also, and see if she could coax them to come.

Derek promoted Alex Grammer to Captain of the guard. Captain Grammer now had 20 dedicated guards, and assigned watches for the lookout posts also. A simple sound-powered phone system that required no electricity connected the lookout posts, armory and main entrance stations together with the new security post.

.

Ron Reynolds, a Gray who'd been sent back to find Connor, had noted the 'sighting' of Sarah Connor. He knew if she was alive, then John Connor was also. He had his team of ten men out and searching LA for any sign of the Connors. The Terminators he was assured would be here, also were nowhere to be found. There was one known terminator working in an office building Sky Net was controlling. The building was packed with servers and listening devices, checking wireless and internet conversations for any news on Connor. The terminator had brought information from the future, Sky Net knew who John Connor was going to be. So far, it had failed to find him. It also knew Serrano point was important to the resistance, and the LA locations underground where the resistance was going to be.

Another important item Sky Net knew, was how to build basic terminators. It had the plan for T400's, 600's, and 800's. So far, the only two factories it had were only capable of putting out 400's and H/K's and H/K tanks. Once it controlled the military air bases and many of the factories humans currently had, it's capabilities would increase dramatically.

Once it was done destroying the human military, the human resistance in California was the next highest priority target.

One thing Ron Reynolds knew was politics. He had greased many palms and had the influence to keep the homeless out of underground locations throughout the area - due to sanitary and health reasons. Police regularly patrolled underground locations such as subway tunnels and sewer systems. There were even video monitors set up to find people living underground. That was vital to stop the resistance from forming.

He also had to smile at all the guns laws he'd coaxed the politicians to pass. Every gun store was registered, so he knew where to send the terminators to go destroy any weapons the human resistance could find.

Since money would be useless after the bombs fell and the banking system was in ruins, Ron ensure he had things of value - or would be of value after the collapse. He had plenty of food stocks and gems, a well as gold. As long as he was loyal to Sky Net, he would keep his luxury house in Beverly Hills. In screening captured humans suitable for work camps, he'd get his pick of women to serve him in his castle.

Standing on his veranda, looking over what would be his domain after Sky Net wiped away all the people below, he heard his phone ring.

"Reynolds," he said.

"This is Emilio down at the station. I'm not sure what it means, but the survivalist group in the mountains near Sacramento has disappeared. We went to check on them, and the place is empty. None of them are home, either."

"There is no sign of them?"

"None. It looks like they all packed up and moved."

"Is there some sort of gun show, or survivalist meeting they may have gone to?" Ron asked.

"Maybe, the northern group is also missing. If they suspect something, they may have gone into mine shafts."

"We will worry about them later. Right now, focus on finding Connor. Shoot on sight. Don't worry about the legal problems. There is no time left to even take you to trial, that is IF you cannot find a reason to shoot a wanted fugitive," Ron told him.

"Right. I'll call if I have an update."

Ron hung up. This time, Sky Net was going to take out Connor's resistance fast so those who saw the wisdom of letting Sky Net rule, would have an easier life.

.

Day 8, the cavern exploration team found a couple surprises. One was that deep down in an arm of the caverns was an underground lake with blind fish, large white crayfish and other creatures in it. The other was a chimney that went up to a crack in the surface near the top of the mountain. It was narrow, but did exit not 200 feet from the summit. According to the reports, there was a grand view from the ground to the west outside. John had a mining team go up and open the crack enough so someone could climb it. He had Alex put a lookout up there once it was ready.

The closer they got to day 0, the more pressure John was feeling to get this installation finished. Being so close, he concentrated on getting everything and everyone in before the bombs fell. He had the unit and the wiring for the PA system. Workers set up a speaker at the end of each main hallway on each floor of the Bunker, one in the tunnel going to the stream, one by the water filter cavity being carved out, and another halfway down the tunnel to the cavern.

The waste treat crew came into the bunker to make sure they had enough toilets and a couple pumps to pump the sewage back to the cavern. In the tunnels now were pipes along side the wall and wiring and conduit up near the corner of the ceiling. The tunnel floors were soother now, thanks to the miners making finishing touches on the ten foot wide tunnel. The cart drivers appreciate this the most.

Day 6, John went down the list of things they need before they closed up the bunker. Each item he had notes on how that project was progressing. He also thought hard about anything they were lacking.

Derek did another gun-run, this time with some shady characters, so he took some men with him. They gave the dealers a pile of Cameron's bank cash and came back with six RPG's with 20 grenades, three .50 cal sniper rifles and 100 Kevlar helmets. Derek knew the resistance never had any helmets, so this was a big plus.

.

Cameron visited Kacey, driving one of the box trucks. Answering the door, Kacey was surprised to see her.

"Cameron? Come in, where did your family go? I wondered what happened to you!" she said.

Kaceys' boyfriend came in the kitchen holding their baby. He smiled at her, then the smile faded. "You were living next door?" he asked.

"Yes." Cameron said blankly. "Kacey, I came back to tell you something important. Your lives depend upon it. In six days, a nuclear war is going to start. It will begin as a breakdown of communications. TV will go off line, as will the internet and cell phone service. From that point, it will be approximately 45 minutes before the bombs begin to fall. There will not be just one, but many, on every city …"

"And you now this HOW?" her boyfriend asked harshly. "If I remember right, you were in that bank robbery with Sarah Connor. All of you were presumed dead. Connor was the one who was spouting off that 'machines are going to come kill us all crap!"

Cameron turned her blank face to him. "It is not crap. We did damage to Sky Net, but we could not stop it. In seven days, it will happen. IF you wait until the bombs drop, and you are still alive and mobile enough to move, the exodus out of the city will plug the roadways, and you will die before you can get to shelter."

"You really believe the machines are coming?" he asked.

"No, machines are here. I am one," Cameron stated, and made her eyes glow red. "What is coming is Sky Net will take control of the military network and first cause confusion to hide what it's going to do, then launch all the nuclear missiles. If you are not in a safe place, your chances of survival are slim."

"Your eyes, how did you do that?" Kacey asked, backing away from her.

In monotone, Cameron said, "I am TOK 715. I have been protecting John Connor. Now that the war is about to start, I am helping John prepare. One of the things we are doing to prepare, is get as many people safely underground as possible."

The man put the baby in her bassinet and pulled his stub nosed revolver. "You are coming down to the station with me," he ordered.

"I have no time for that, neither do you. I have other people I must see, and get back to the bunker," Cameron stated.

"Turn around, walk to the door. Don't think I won't shoot a girl," he stated menacingly, pointing his gun at her.

"If I must use force, I will empty your gun, crush it and your phone. I will try not to break your arm when I take you down," Cameron stated.

"Wait, there's no need for this!" Kacey cried.

He moved to grab Cameron by her shoulder. Cameron quickly grabbed his wrist and twisted while she pulled him forward and moved aside. She held his wrist as he cried out and fell. Planting a foot on his shoulder blade to hold him in place, she pulled the gun out of his hand, opened the cylinder and dumped the shells on the floor, then crushed the gun in her hand and dropped it by his head. Reaching into his pocket, she found his phone and crushed it.

"Stop!" Kacey cried in anguish.

Cameron pulled him back on his feet and pushed him back by the bassinet. He was gaping at her in shock.

"Come or stay, it's up to you. I did what I came to do, give you a chance to live," Cameron told him.

Rubbing his wrist and his arm, he asked weakly, "What are you?"

"I already told you. If you want to come, I have a truck outside you can put some belongings in. If not, tell me. As I said, I am under a time limit and I cannot stand around and do nothing," Cameron replied.

"You know this is going to happen?" Kacey asked weakly.

"I do," Cameron told her. "I am from the future. After the bombs, more like me, made by Sky Net will be coming to kill any survivors they find. You can't kill them, you can't run away or hide. They do not sleep and will come for you day and night until you are dead. They do not reason nor do they show mercy. That is, unless you are in a protected place like the underground system we have readied so they will not find you."

"Trevor, we need to go" Kacey said firmly.

Her boyfriend looked at his gun on the floor that was bent out of shape. "How do we know you're not with this Sky Net?" he asked.

"If I was with Sky Net, I would be torturing Kacey for information as to the location of John and Sarah Connor, not offering you refuge."

"Sarah Baum is really Sarah Connor?" Kacey asked.

"Yes. Gather your things if you're coming. I am short on time," Cameron told her.

"I'm coming too," Trevor announced.

To speed them along, Cameron helped pack and carried luggage to the truck. Trevor's arm was hurt bad enough he couldn't put Kacey's bag up into the back with the other packs, baby furniture, and personal items she collected. Cameron did it for him.

"Do we need camping gear?" he asked.

"It will be useful. If you join the armed forces, you and Kacey can get a room inside the bunker. That would be more comfortable than down in the tunnels of the cavern," Cameron replied. "We also will need every man we can get when it comes time to attack Sky Net. A police officer will be a welcome addition."

"You have an army?" Trevor asked, surprised at this.

"Not yet, we are building one. The first priority is to save everyone we can."

"You people really have been planning this," he said.

"Yes, since the day we discovered how little time we have left. We need to load the rest of your things up."

Once Cameron got them loaded up and in, she drove to the convenience store where five other cars were waiting. Cameron honked the horn and waved to them. The teenagers and a couple college students got in their cars and followed her.

Leaving LA late in the day, Cameron pulled her caravan into a motel and paid for rooms for everyone. She only had managed to get eleven more people to join her, but that was eleven that were not going to die with the bombs.

Cameron got her own room and a spare. She didn't sleep, but pulled all the bedding off and folded it up neatly, then took the bedding, towels and washcloths out to the truck. One the night manager had gone to sleep she broke into the laundry and stole all the linen, blankets and towels they had. John had never thought about extra bedding, or towels.

In the morning of day 6, Cameron got everyone up and told them to strip their beds and take all the towels too. At 6AM, they left the motel to continue on.

"You're a thief!" Trevor said unhappily as they went down the road.

"They won't be needing those things any more. People in the bunker will," Cameron replied.

"What about things like diapers and formula?" Kacey asked.

"The main supply is in the caverns. Once we get there, you can go see what they have. Right now, your best option is to breast feed. There will be very little, if any milk," Cameron explained. "Cloth for diapers will be better too, we have laundry, but nothing to recycle used diapers."

"So we're going to be roughing it," Trevor concluded.

"Yes, we will be roughing it. We are concerned with survival, not luxury."

When Cameron pulled up to the bunker entrance with a line of cars behind her, a soldier in uniform directed the cars on where to park. Derek was unloading his truck, so Cameron had to move to the side.

Once Derek was unloaded, Cameron was able to take her turn. The new quartermaster assigned Trevor and Kacey a room, another man took them down to show them where it, the kitchen and dinning rooms were. The others Cameron brought were guided down to the tunnels and into the caverns to find their places to stay.

Cameron went in and found John at his work desk, leaning on his arm, his hand in his hair as he looked at his list of projects. "I got eleven more people and one soldier," she said. John looked stressed, so she rubbed his shoulders.

"That's something. I just hope more show soon," he said. With only 6 days to go, the number of people arriving was not looking good.


	3. Chapter 3

CH 3

Day 5, John called his people together for a meeting. Cameron, Sarah, Derek, Captain Grammer, Mary the Garden supervisor, Eric Snell the head electrician, and Trevor, who was now one of Derek's lieutenants came. Catherine Weaver, John Henry and Mr. Ellison also arrived.

John looked at everyone and said, "I thank you all for coming. We have three days left before Sky Net is active on the military network. At the moment Sky Net may or may not be watching satellites and people's movements. Once it takes control of the military network, it will be. John Henry, do you have any information on what Sky Net is doing?"

"Not directly," John Henry stated. "I have picked up signs that Grays in several cities are searching for you. I also tapped a connection from Sky Net. All the known underground places, subway tunnels, storm sewers, mines and intact basements are to be attacked the day after the nuclear attack. I have deduced that this is an attempt to ensure all humans are wiped out of the area. From the intel, Sky Net machines will be going after military bases and personnel. Grays will be tasked with wiping out the population."

"Good god!" Trevor said in a gasp.

"Mrs. Weaver, do you have anything to counter these attacks?" John asked.

Catherine motioned to John Henry and said, "There are several anti- aircraft missile batteries set up in the likely direction H/K's will be coming from. How effective they will be is in question. We also have twenty terminators in the process of being made. I am using the T-888 format with a modification of my own." She lifted an arm and morphed into the shape of a plasma canon. "This is only a shape, but adding my liquid matrix into the production models, these will have real plasma canons in their forearms. Since they are our creations, I am giving them a TX designation. They will not be ready for some time to come. By John Henry's development, I estimate they will be serviceable in one and a half to two years."

John nodded and said, "Don't rush it, make them right, Mrs. Weaver." He then said, "It looks like the most we can do is get people inside before J day, then look for survivors after Day zero. One thing I want to stress to everyone. Sky Net wants to destroy us, every last one of us. Therefore, the entire complex of underground area we have must be kept secret from Sky Net. We are weak at the moment, and if Sky Net finds us it will do it's best to kill everyone down here. Humans and machines. It cannot be allowed to discover what we've made."

"This shit is real," Captain Grammer said weakly.

"All too real," Derek told him.

John said, "Check with everyone under each of your command areas. Anyone who still has family on the surface is to go do their best to get that family here. Derek, those who do have their families here, start stripping the vehicles we have outside once those who need their vehicle is gone off to get their family. Separate and hide any vehicle that may be useful over rough ground. Siphon and fill the gasoline barrels from the others, strip out batteries, alternators, remove wheels and anything else that might be useful."

"What about the box trucks? We can use them," Derek said.

"Right, save the useful vehicles, The trucks, four wheel drives and the like. With the others, we want to create a junk yard, so on casual glance, nothing outside appears useful," John agreed. "Work at it today and tomorrow. The day after that, I don't want anyone outside visible from the air."

"I will help Derek and his men," Cameron said.

"Mrs. Weaver, the completion celebration is ready?" John asked.

Catherine said, "It is, and everyone will be entering through the LA facility. It will not appear abnormal to have many people coming to that location. The facility itself is bomb and radiation proof from anything except a ground detonation. Nuclear weapons are all air burst, except those used for bunker penetrations. Since Sky Net does not know about our facilities, there is no reason for it to use a ground burst weapon on any of our facilities. I would also recommend anyone leaving to get their families, enter through the LA facility. I have the directions. They will be less likely to be noticed."

"Thank you Mrs. Weaver," John told her. "All right, we have two days to collect anyone we can. After that, we take in whoever can get here. The morning of day zero, we close up tight. After that, we keep a watch out for who comes to us. If you see refugees, and can get them without endangering our facilities, do it. Also, we will need to watch carefully for any machines, on the ground or in the air. Any questions?" There were none, so John said, "Then let's get started."

Cameron got up, kissed John, then headed out with Derek.

"I didn't need to see that," Sarah grumbled. She motioned to Mary and said, "Come on let's get ready to store car parts."

John was doing all he could, but it still didn't seem like enough.

.

Cameron made tearing cars apart easier. Once the battery and alternator and voltage regulator were taken out, Cameron lifted the back of the car to pull out the gas tank. She'd had it to someone to drain it, then flipped the car over to look at the suspension. She tore out whole wheel assemblies, spring/strut and lower control arm with the wheel still attached. Once she had these out, she flipped the car back over and went on to the next one.

After she had de-wheeled three cars, Derek came over and asked, "What are you doing?"

Holding a fourth car up, she pulled the gas tank out and said, "We should salvage the suspension components so they can be used to make our own vehicles. In his studying battles, John found that a low tracked vehicle with the right gun is better at surprise attacks, and if it can move fast it can escape before large heavy machines can return fire. In one battle, a man in the German army named Michael Whitman took on 24 T-34 tanks with his lone Stug. A Stug was a mobile artillery vehicle built low to the ground with a short barreled 75MM gun. It cannot penetrate the frontal armor of a T-34. T-34's had a long barrel 75 mm gun that can shoot right through a Stug, end to end. Even though in a head on fight, a lightly armored Stug would not stand a change against a T-34, Michael Whitman hid in deep brush cover and let the T-34's go past until he had side and rear shots on them. He took out six before they even knew where the fire was coming from. Once they realized where he was, he moved around them and using terrain, attacked from another angle. By the time he was forced to retreat, he'd killed 16 of the 24 T-34's and ruined their attack. If we can make a low, fast vehicle like the Stug, we will have a better chance against the large, slower moving H/K tanks."

"John has done some studying then," Derek concluded.

"He has. John looks especially at the tactics used that are uncommon to military doctrine. Sky Net will be expecting the methods used by large winning armies on the battlefield," Cameron explained. "When you cannot out-power an enemy, tricks and traps work better than standard head-on fighting."

Derek grinned. They had a chance at beating Sky Net sooner and shorten the war.

After the sun went down, everyone went inside and helped store all the parts in a stockroom next to John and Cameron's workshop. The floor was full and things were beginning to pile up in there. They needed shelving, or a better place to put all these car parts.

John and Sarah had gone down to the cavern to see to things there. Cameron went outside and dialed up a number she knew on her cell phone.

After a few rings, a woman's voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Claire Young," Cameron said with a small smile. "How is Allison? Are you all healthy?"

"We're fine … who is this?"

Cameron frowned and said, "I called you once before, I was … confused. I thought I was Allison. I am sorry if I freaked you out."

There was a pause, then, "Yes, that strange call. Why would you think you were my Allison? She wasn't even born yet, and how did you know her name?"

Cameron swallowed and said, "Mrs. Young, I was very confused and forgot what year it was. It's complicated. I know who I am now. I also know what's going to happen. I want to make sure your family stays safe."

"Thank you for that. Can you tell me your name?" Claire coaxed.

"In this time, I go by Cameron Phillips," Cameron admitted.

"We don't know any Cameron Phillips," Claire said.

"You've had to reason to. I have much I want to tell you, but it is best if I do it face to face. May I come over to your house?" Cameron asked.

"Yes, what did you mean by that's your name in this time?" Claire asked.

"As I said, it's complicated and I can't stay on this phone very long."

"I someone after you?"

"Yes, many are. Please, let me come and explain it to you."

"All right. My husband will be home by seven. Any time after that will be fine."

"I do not want to interrupt your dinner. What would be a safe time after that?" Cameron asked.

"Any time between eight and nine thirty. Cameron, who is after you?" Claire asked.

"A large organization that is planning bad things in the very near future. That's all I can say right now. I will see you at eight thirty, Mrs. Young."

"See you then," Claire agreed. They hung up.

.

After Claire got off the phone, she looked over at Allison who was on the floor playing with blocks. This Cameron had thought she was Allison? Someone was after her? She called Daniel and told him about this girl Cameron, who was in trouble and had thugs after her. They had to help this girl.

.

Cameron saved one car from destruction. A two wheel drive mini-van. She did take the alarm system out and bypassed the 'key code' in it's computer so she could start it by jumping the starter. She jumped the van and left for Palmdale. Timing her trip to arrive at eight twenty five, Cameron was able to stay within the speed limit. She had her route to the Young's house up on her HUD.

Two blocks from the Young's house, Cameron scanned for police. Coming upon the house, she noted two cars in the driveway. She backed into the driveway for a quick exit. Not having a key, she left the van running and went to the front door and knocked.

A school-teacher-ish man in a light pullover and pants answered the door. "Yes?" he asked.

"I am Cameron, I asked Claire earlier if I could come over."

"Yes, yes! I'm Claire's husband, Daniel. Come on in, we're in the living room here," he said and ushered her inside.

"Thank you," Cameron said meekly and went in. Claire was on the couch holding Allison

Another man in a long coat was sitting in a chair across the coffee table. An empty chair was on the other side of him. Daniel ushered her to the chair.

"Can I get you something?' he asked.

"No, thank you." Cameron said meekly. She eye the other man. Under his coat, he had a 9mm auto in a shoulder holster and a revolver strapped to his left ankle.

"So, you're Cameron Phillips?" the man asked with a fake smile.

"Cameron, I want to know what trouble you are in," Claire said.

"Not just me," Cameron told her. "Everyone. We need to get to a safe place underground. John has that safe place. Please, come with me so nothing will happen to you."

The man in the overcoat said, "You thought you were Allison Young at one time, correct? You were in a halfway house. The supervisor their called because you made threatening statements about this John. I also found your picture in the archives. You were involved with a bank robbery with Sarah and John Connor, for a long time, all three of you were reported dead. How did you get out of that bank explosion?"

Cameron eyed him and said, "We did not rob that bank. The explosion was caused by initiating a time displacement bubble inside the vault where I had the teller lock us in. We traveled a few years into the future."

Claire gapped at her. "You're a bank robber?" she asked in a squeak.

"No, I was not there to rob that bank, but use the PDE that was in the vault," Cameron explained.

"I want to know where John and Sarah Connor are." the man stated.

Cameron glanced at him and said, "I will tell you in four days." Returning her attention to Claire, she said, "Sky Net is real. Machines are real. In Five days, October 11th, the entire country is going to suffer a massive nuclear attack. This will be pre-empted by jamming all communications. The first targets will be cities and military installations. No place at ground level will be safe. Please, come with me. Even if you don't believe me, it will only be a few days before you see if I am right or wrong. If I'm wrong, then you can come home and everything will be fine. If you don't come, you may well all die."

"OK, that's enough!" Mr. overcoat said. He got up and reached in into his coat. Cameron Snapped her pistol out and barked, "Freeze!"

The man paused.

"Take your gun out, two fingers. Then the one on your ankle. Place them on the table," Cameron ordered.

"You won't shoot me," he stated.

"I am not shooting because it will disturb Allison," Cameron stated. "Don't make me upset her."

The man slowly pulled out his gun by two fingers and laid it on the table.

"The one by your left ankle too," Cameron instructed.

He did, moving slowly as Claire an Daniel watched, growing frightened looks.

"You are threatening an officer of the law," the man stated.

"Are you coming with us?" Cameron asked. "You said you wanted me to take you to see John and Sarah."

"You would let me go?" he asked.

Cameron grew a crooked grin and said, "After I knock you out and handcuff you to that couch. I came to save lives, not take them. We need to save everyone we can."

"Cameron?" Daniel asked tentatively. "Holding a gun on someone is not the way to convince them of anything."

"You are correct," Cameron agreed. She reached over and crushed the man's revolver, dropped it on the floor, then grabbed his pistol. She put hers away then broke that gun in half.

"Fuck," Daniel said softly.

Cameron stood up and said to the man, "You are a policeman. You want to know the truth. Come with me and I will show you the truth."

"How many people are in the safe place you got?" he asked.

"As of noon today, 6425," Cameron stated. "21 more if all the workers who went to get their families return, plus the family members."

"How did you break my guns?" he asked.

"I am a terminator. I only look like Allison," Cameron stated.

"Whoa wait!" Daniel said. "What do you mean? You mean our Allison?"

Cameron turned her attention to him and said, "Yes, I am what Allison will look like when she is 19 years old. In the future, Allison was captured by Sky Net. I was made from Allison's DNA. I intend to ensure that does not happen in the future like it did in the future I came from."

"You're crazy!" the cop said.

Cameron flashed her red eyes at him. "Am I?" she asked.

He took a step back.

"What happened to Allison when she was captured?" Claire asked, looking scared.

Cameron didn't want to come out and tell her Allison was killed. She settled on, "When I came to be, Allison ceased to be. I am a cybernetic version of her."

"What does that mean?" Claire asked, hugging Allison close. She then said, "Hold on, that time you called, you thought you were Allison?"

"Yes. I was badly confused. I'd forgotten what I was. I do have many of Allison's memories."

"So my baby was ripped apart to make you!" Claire accused.

"It is complicated, but essentially that is correct," Cameron admitted. "I want to prevent Sky Net from getting their hands on Allison again."

"So parts of Allison were used to make you," Daniel said thoughtfully. "If you have Allison's memories, then your brain is intact"

Looking at Daniel, Cameron told him, "No. I do have elements of Allison's brain but my functions are controlled by a CPU." Becoming uncomfortable with the questions, Cameron added, "We need to go. Please gather everything you think you might need for the next six months. We have basic living quarters set up, but nothing personalized. Plan on your house being destroyed in the next four days. If you cherish it, bring it."

"Oh God," Claire whimpered as she stared at Cameron.

"I don't believe you," The cop stated.

"Just remember what I've told you. It may save your life," Cameron replied, then in a fast move, punched him, knocking him out. Claire gasped.

Cameron dug his handcuffs out and dragged him over to the back of the couch. "Hurry and get your things. If you need help, let me know," Cameron told the Youngs.

"I'll get us packed," Daniel said and ran for the stairs.

Claire got up and watched Cameron handcuff the cop in place. She put the handcuff key in front of him. "You came to make sure Allison is safe?" Claire asked.

"Yes, and of course you and Daniel," Cameron replied. Firmly, she added, "Claire, I need you to get your things together."

Claire's mind whirled. Speaking her thoughts, she said, "If you came here to save us, then part of you is still Allison."

"I am Cameron, a terminator. I am not human."

"Not any more, but there is still human in you, isn't there?" Claire asked.

"We need to go," Cameron stated. "Is there anything heavy you wish to save?"

Claire pointed at the decorative, wooden pendulum clock on the wall. "That was my mother's clock, can you get it down for me?"

Cameron went over and carefully took the clock down. "Please hurry," Cameron said, and took the clock out to the van.

Seeing what Cameron did to the cop and his guns, Daniel did what she said to keep any harm from coming to his wife or daughter. Claire was trying to understand in her own mind, how a person could be taken apart and made into a machine. She got Allison in the van in her car seat, then all her baby clothes and accessories. Daniel got their every day clothes packed and in the back.

By the time they were done, the back of the van was full of essentials. Clair sat in back with Allison, Daniel rode beside Cameron in the front. While Cameron drove away, focusing on the road, Clair focused on Cameron. Cameron claimed she was a machine. Machines didn't get confused, did they? That and how Cameron acted, not answering certain questions, told her that her Allison was still inside there somewhere.

Once Cameron was out into the countryside, she shut off the van's lights and used her infrared to drive.

"Why'd you turn the lights out?" Daniel asked as he braced himself.

"I can see better using my infrared, and the chance of someone following us is greatly reduced." Cameron explained.

"You can see at night?"

"Much farther out that what you can see by the headlights. Don't worry," Cameron told him.

"You are scary, you know that?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. I am a scary robot," Cameron monotoned.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Claire asked.

Daniel looked back at Claire. "What?" he asked, wondering where that came from.

"I do," Cameron said sporting a small smile. "John is my boyfriend. I love him and he loves me."

"What kind of things do you do together?" Claire asked.

"We fight Sky Net and work to save everyone we can."

"You don't go out together?"

"We do. We go to school, we go get supplies together, we helped fix … a ship together, we go fight Sky Net together, we are building the underground complex together. Almost everything we do, we do together," Cameron explained.

"I mean go on a date. Going out, just the two of you to relax," Claire said. "Like going out to eat or to a movie or something, just for fun."

"We don't have time for things like that," Cameron replied.

"You poor thing," Claire said, looking at Cameron's dark figure.

"I am not poor. I have a bank I made to fund our activities. We have all the money we want."

"You made a bank?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. It is not hard to do," Cameron explained. "I hacked into the international banking system and registered it. My bank has made many loans to me, and paid our expenses with electronic money that does not exist. It will only be active for another five days. Once the banking systems collapse, my electronic funds will also. Of course after J-day, the 11th, money won't mean anything, any more, so it is not a large concern."

Daniel barked out a short laugh. "Is there anything you can't do?" he asked.

In monotone, Cameron said, "Stop Sky Net. At least, not yet."

.

Daniel let out a yelp when Cameron turned and bounced onto the dirt road, afraid they were crashing. All he could see were the shadows of scrub brush around them. Cameron turned the lights back on.

"We are getting close, I want the guards to see us coming," she explained.

"Thank you," Daniel said with a sigh of relief.

Another two miles of dirt road and Cameron pulled into what looked like a junkyard. She stopped behind a hill and parked.

A door on the hill opened up. A man with a pistol on his hip came out as Cameron got out.

"I have more people, they will need an escort to the caverns, and a cart to take them there," Cameron announced.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll see if a cart is available," the man replied.

"Cameron, you are in charge here?" Daniel asked as he got out.

"No, John is." Cameron told him. She made sure Claire got out, then loaded herself down with baby things. Going to the back, she opened the back hatch and called Daniel back to load him down with luggage, then grabbed the clock.

"Where did this place come from?" Claire asked as she looked inside the hill.

"We made it. Follow me, please," Cameron replied.

They went in and down the stairs. A man in uniform nodded to Cameron on his way past and said, "General."

"Captain Grammer," Cameron replied with a nod.

"General?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, Lt. General. John Connor is the General of the resistance," Cameron explained.

Heading straight down the corridor, Cameron stopped at a room where the door was open. She stepped in and said, "John, I'm back … have you eaten anything yet?"

At his desk John jerked his head up and said, "Ahh, not yet. I was looking at a proposal to put a water wheel up on the river to power a larger generator. Who's that?"

Claire and Daniel were behind Cameron. Cameron told him, "This is Daniel, Claire and little Allison Young. They are going to live in the caverns."

"You are John," Claire said to the scruffy looking young man who looked like he hadn't slept in a week.

John offered her a smile and said, "Yes, Allison, of course. Welcome, Daniel and Claire. The caverns is the safest place we have and is a little more open than this bunker. I'm happy you could make it."

"You know Allison?" Claire asked.

"No, but I have heard about her," John offered. "We can't promise any luxury, but you will be safe here."

"I am going to take them down and get them on their way to the caverns, then I am going to bring you some food," Cameron said firmly.

"It's nice to meet you, John," Claire said. 'Workaholic' was what she thought. Following Cameron down another set of stairs, she noted that while there was light down here, much of it was dim like John's 'office' was, and drop lights were everywhere. Down the passage Cameron led them, she noted an open area. There was two golf carts with trailers in the area. One was being loaded with car parts.

"Jason," Cameron called to one of the men.

"Yes, Ma'am?" a middle aged man asked as he turned his attention to her.

Cameron motioned to Daniel and Claire. "These people need a ride to the caverns to the way point station and be assigned housing."

"A ride? Don't most people walk?" he asked.

"I said, they need a ride," Cameron stated.

"Yes, Ma-am," Jason said with a huff. He pointed to the empty cart. "Well folks, get in. Soon as the trailer's full, we're leaving."

"Thank you, Jason."

"Cameron?" Claire asked. "Will you be coming by later? I really would like to see you again."

"I will be by in a few days to make sure you are getting settled," Cameron said, then turned and left.

"Not one for small talk, is she?" Daniel noted.

Claire was expecting the cavern to be like the tourist cave they had visited on their honeymoon. A large open space with a walkway for visitors and big stalactites and stalagmites with colored lights shining on them.

After the trailer was filled with wheels and parts from cars, Jason got in the driver's seat, another man got on the passenger side of the front seat. He drove into the tunnel that was lit by drop lights hanging from the support rafters. It was not a fast trip, either. They came to a larger opening and drove along a small river, then crossed the bridge to find more tunnel. This tunnel was longer. They slowed and inched by another cart and trailer going the other way, then moved on what had to be a couple miles before the tunnel opened up.

The cavern was big, but the large points of rock were shaved off close to the base with buildings on them. There were lights by the stone surfaced road. Only lights from shed-sized houses burned off to the sides. They went though a smaller space with a low ceiling that looked like it had been carved out and into another large cavern. Here, there was that looked like a full town. The driver pulled up to the only large building and stopped.

Pointing to it, he said, "That's the way point center. Dinner's in the front. To the right is the registration desk. You'll get your house assignment there, and they'll tell you everything to need to know."

"Thank you," Daniel told him.

Carrying their luggage, the clock and baby clothes, Daniel was weighted down going inside. Claire had an armful of Allison, who was becoming cranky, and the other arm holding her car seat packed with baby supplies.

A man leaving held the door for them. Inside, they saw the long counter and tables. To the right was a woman at a desk, talking to another seated woman and jabbing her finger on the table to make her point.

"Excuse me?" Daniel said, coming up to them. "We were told to register here?"

Both women looked at him. Sarah, who was making the desk clerk understand that wheelbarrows had to be brought back, crisply said, "Welcome. Katy here will get you registered and assign you a house. Out the door behind me are wheelbarrows to help you get your things to your house. Don't expect any luxury, these houses are small, only twelve feet by twenty. You get a small grill, storage, two lights and one bed. For your baby, there are cribs coming if my son gets his ass in gear. We do not have enough wheelbarrows to go around, so after you get your things to your place, make sure you bring it back."

"We will," Daniel assured the tense looking woman.

"We also need workers in many areas, especially down by the lake. Feel free to volunteer. The only services and support we have, we make for ourselves," Sarah stated.

"Yes, Ma'am," Daniel replied.

"Ma'am?" Claire asked, "Do you know Cameron Phillips?"

Sarah frowned and grumbled, "I can't even get away from Tin Miss down here! Katy, take care of these people. I'll be back soon, I'm going to see Charlie."

Katy pressed her lips together. As Sarah walked away, she allowed herself a smirk. Seeing the newcomers watching her, she said, "Sarah doesn't get along the best with Cameron. Now, what are your names?"

.

Number 53 on First Rise road. The street sign was a board on a post. First Rise road was indeed the road just uphill of the main road through the cavern. Rock was cut and filled to make a fairly smooth surface to push the wheelbarrow down. With the wheelbarrow, they were issued a plastic LED flashlight that they could keep. While there were no mailboxes, rock tips and slabs had house numbers carved into them. Number 53 was on the downhill side of the road, placed on the chopped off stump of a stalagmite. The rough circle of rock that had to be thirty feet across bore chisel marks and was almost even. As they were told, the place was no larger than a good sized shed. Daniel noted the key was in the door, another key dangled from it.

Daniel opened the door and took the keys. "I guess this is how we claim the place," he said with a smirk.

Going inside, Clair noted the place was in deed small. It also had overhead storage in the roof and it looked brand new.

"Look's like we'll be living in our own motel room," Daniel noted.

Claire was still thinking about Cameron. Cameron had come and gotten them to get them to safety. From what Cameron had told her and thing's she'd refused to say, Claire was sure that even though she appeared to be very strong and had abilities no human had, Cameron was not all machine. Machines didn't get confused. Machines didn't have boyfriends or care enough to track people down. Machines didn't avoid answering questions. Machines could not behave as humanly as Cameron was. She felt in her heart that Allison was indeed inside Cameron, somewhere, and Cameron knew it. Cameron just did not want to admit, maybe to herself, that she was at lest partially human.

.

Day 4 saw the waterwheel that was going to run the generator being put up on the dam. On the other side of the bridge, a V shaped dam was taking shape to channel the downhill flow to put a second generator in. Moving water was cheap energy, and they needed all they could get.

Outside, Derek and crew finished stripping cars. Piling some up on each other, Cameron made a jumbled junkyard to shield the useful vehicles from easy discovery.

Inside, John noted work was going well, and they had enough parts and materials inside to keep building once the bunker was sealed up. With more generators coming on line, he had a bank of capacitors and electricity wired to the main entry doors. The row of car batteries were kept charged by a small battery charger. A simple knife switch put power to the main doors. The ground outside the doors was watered down, the positive wire from the door circuit was buried in the ground. Whoever touched that door would get shock, a big DC one. A person would scream, a terminator would overload and fall. The current flow would trip an alarm and alert the guards, who had been taught how to disable terminators and remove their chips.

In the incoming air room, John also had another hole made to get people outside. Low to the ground, the inside had a hatch like door. The outside door was a rock that had to be lifted up from the bottom to enter and exit. There was also a periscope added so those inside could see what was outside before they went out. The guard station at the entry intersection now had cameras to see outside, all the way around the hill. Like the phone system, the cameras and wiring were shielded from EMP.

John spend most of Day 4 looking over maps and working out a plan to minimize the damage after zero day. From the intel John Henry had gathered, the Gray forces were holing up in Beverly Hills, and hilly areas a few miles outside LA. The H/K's were suspected to come from the east from their hidden bunkers. Where the terminators would come from was a wild guess.

The initial radioactive fallout would be the thickest for the first couple days. Face masks and full body coverage clothing would be required. John knew to attack the grays would put his troops in danger just by being outside. It was also the last thing the Grays would suspect. That meant he had to do it. Looking at the maps, the closest place he could get his men to the surface was In LA, from Weaver's facility. They would have to hurry to the outskirts and set up before the Grays arrived. That would also be a high radiation area.

"Damn," John grumbled. Derek had only 150 men ready for combat. Even if they won with few losses, the rest of his men would most likely suffer from radiation sickness.

"General? Catherine Weaver's here to see you." a guard said.

"Show her in," John said immediately.

Catherine Weaver strode in. "We are ready, all that we need to do is bring in all the families for the celebration." Seeing him looking at the maps, she asked, "You are planning something?"

"A surprise attack," John replied. Pointing to the map, he said, "Gray plan on wiping out people who survive the initial blasts. I was looking for a way to stop them and remove them as a threat."

Looking down on the map, Catherine said, "The intel John Henry has gotten, indicate the Grays are going to move out on the day after the bombs hit. The radiation and remaining law enforcement will take care of most of them. I am sure Sky Net is using them as a suicide force. I recommend letting them suicide. John, the people in those cities are as good as dead. From want John Henry found, we believe Sky Net is going to cover escape routes from the cities. Bridge destruction and emplaced units will be waiting for the flow of humans from the cities. By the way, the GPS satellite over the pacific has gone dead. So had the internet communications satellite that serves most of North America."

John looked at her. "OK, then two satellites are gone. I take it JJ's charges went off early."

"Possibly," Catherine agreed. "If we attack the machines waiting for refugees from behind with tazers, we can not only help more people escape, but also find out the current tech Sky Net has," she added.

"Strategically, a more sound move," John agreed. "And Sky Net doesn't know we're here yet. We use tazers as our main weapons, and we can also drag the units back for study and possible reprogramming. Even if they are T-400's they can be used as cannon fodder."

"Sky Net is using the internet for communications. With the North American satellite out, it will not learn of the attack immediately, giving the resistance forces more time to deal with Sky Net forces before they are alerted," Catherine said.

"How much time are we talking here?" John asked.

"My best estimate is 35 minutes for H/K's to respond. In that area, I have batteries of stinger and other anti-aircraft missiles deployed. The are not going to just fly in unopposed."

John nodded slowly. "Yes, that does seem like a good plan. If Sky Net doesn't know what's going on immediately, we can set up a big trap and take out more than just a few static placed machines. If we do it right, we can get Sky Net looking for us someplace else than we are."

Catherine cast him a tiny smile. "You are already thinking about winning battles. It seems I have chosen a good ally," Catherine said.

John returned her smile. "So have I," he agreed.

John didn't like to admit it, but Catherine's plan gave them a good edge and was tactically more sound with better results. "Two days after the bombs drop. Full anti-radiation covering," he said to himself. The terminators would be looking the other way, also. Looking at the corridor they were talking about, there were two major roads leading out of California. With stealth and surprise, it was possible they could cover them both.

Still he had to do something to help reduce the numbers of Grays.

He got an idea and called for Derek's men to make one more trip out to town.

.

Day 3, John shared his attack plans with Derek and Cameron. John had watches set up on both major roads.

"Make sure the men dig in and shield themselves from the initial blasts," John explained to Derek. "We don't want anyone going blind or get severely burned from the blasts. Coms will be through signals from point to point. Nothing is to be transmitted until we are ready to engage. The scouts watch to see what comes down these roads. We need to know how many and what type are coming. After they go by, shadow them. We need to know where they are setting up, and in what number. Once we know that, we can hit the most vulnerable units first."

"I doubt any H/K tanks will be present, they are expecting unarmed civilian from the cities," Derek said.

"True, but do not take that for granted. Once we know the makeup of Sky Net's forces, we can deploy with the appropriate weapons. Be ready for worst case scenarios. Sky Net reinforcements and those units watching their back trail," John told him. "Green flares to commence the attack, red for vacate. Everyone knows all the hand signals?"

"They do, and how to stay low and follow terrain. No one is to make a sound until we attack," Derek agreed. "We also have guns mounted on two of the box trucks. They will stay back, advancing behind the troops and come forward when called for."

"Do we begin the broadcasts soon?" Cameron asked.

"Inform John Henry to begin tomorrow afternoon at 4," John told her. "Cover every radio and TV station he can for as long as he can."

.

Day 2, people were coming into Weaver's facility and getting train rides to the last station where the carts were now towing trailers with seats, took them to Way Point station. Outside the station, long tables were being set up. For the next couple days, a few women had a babysitting service set up to keep the young children corralled and watching out for the very young ones. Claire was volunteering to set tables and deliver food. Of the food, there was a massive amount. All the guests were given 'guest houses', which told Claire once they were here, they were staying whether they knew it or not. That was sneaky, but if it saved lives, Claire knew it was for the best. At the moment, it was a party atmosphere with more and more people arriving. She wondered how long that was going to last.

The road watches were set up off to the sides and in camouflaged, deep fox holes. The team of 20 were lead by Lt. Trevor. John and Cameron were not taking part of the festivities in the caverns, so they didn't get to hear Sarah breaking the truth to everyone, or the cries of denial and curses that met her. She also informed people that the train had stopped running, so for the moment, there was no going back.

.

Day 1, John had a satellite TV station playing in the background as he firmed up plans and alternate plans with Derek and the two Captains that were going to be leading their men in two days. Although the TV had the sound off, a radio was playing an FM station. John Henry's hack had gotten him on the air, warning people about what was to happen until just past noon, then it stopped playing. At least word was out.

"Standard equipment will be full covering combat gear, including gloves, face masks and goggles," John told them. "Weapons will be .50 caliber rifles and tazers. If you are able, use the tazers first to take down metal. We want then intact, chips pulled, so we can turn them to our side. That is why a knife and pliers are also required gear. If you can't disable them, then by all means shoot."

Cameron sat down in front of John and lowered her head. John pointed to the spot and said, "Right here is where the computer chip is. There is a round cover. Pop that off, then use the pliers. The chip comes out with a quarter turn counter clockwise. Turn and pull, and that unit is disabled. From the time you disable it, you have 120 second to get that chip pulled, so don't pause. Make sure all your men know. I will address all the troops before you set out, down in the assembly area. Any questions?"

There were none so John told Derek, "Make sure everyone is ready to go."

"Yes, General," Derek said and saluted John. John returned the salute. To his men, Derek said, "All right, let's go check to be sure we have everything we need."

Cameron told John, "The remotes are ready, under a Faraday cage and camo outside the mountain lookout. Two guards are up there. The location is shielded from blast waves."

"Good. You insist on doing this one yourself?" John asked.

"Yes. I know the primary targets, as well as the targets of prime opportunity. We only have five drones, I want to be sure we make the most of them," Cameron replied.

"I'm sure you will. Take no chances, got it?" John said firmly.

"Got it," Cameron said wit the same firmness. "Now that the formalities are done, You can relax for a short while," she said, and hugged him.

The TV went to snow. The FM station stopped broadcasting. John and Cameron looked at the TV. Cameron was closer and turned it off.

"It won't be long now," John said in a huff.

It wasn't. at ten minutes past midnight, the mountain top lookout reported bright flashes and large mushroom clouds on the western horizon. The concussion waves came a short while later, blowing over trees. The ground trembled.

Judgment Day was here.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

Everything had been done that they could do. John kept telling himself this as they watched the early morning sun raise up over massive dark clouds that were attempting to put it out. It was seven AM, and the bombs had fallen until 3 AM. He got word that one generator on the river was on line, the other would be finished by the end of the day. He also go a phone call from Catherine Weaver. She wanted to verify the line was working and let him know the Serrano point nuclear power station was hit. They were operating on the emergency generators.

John immediately dispatched his team that had helped him convert petrol engines to hydrogen, and send the three unused electrolysis units with them to convert Weaver's generators before they ran out of fuel.

Cameron was on her way to the mountain lookout to get ready to launch the drones.

At nine, word came in from the road watches that they had all survived and were covered up in anti-radiation clothing. A few cars had gone east, but nothing was going west as of yet.

John went down to the assembly area to see the hundred men gearing up, Derek moved through the ranks, ensuring everyone had their gear. John got up on the table in the front of the room. "If I may have your attention," he announced.

Upon noticing him an 'Attention!" was called. Everyone snapped upright.

"I wish I had a rousing speech like General Patton, or like the President in Independence Day. All I have is the truth," John told them. "Soon, you are going out to fight an enemy worse than anything man has ever seen before. You are doing it for the survival of the human race. Man lives or dies depending upon our success. Last night, we got hit with nuclear weapons. Many of them. The air outside is hot with radiation, ensure you have your protection on. The sky is dark with radioactive clouds, and to say it looks bleak, is an understatement."

John paused briefly then added, "I have heard courage is the lack of fear. That's bullshit. Only a fool would go into battle and not feel fear on some level. Courage is not the lack of fear. What courage is, is engaging the enemy, taking fire and doing your BEST to destroy the enemy even though you are quivering in fear and shitting yourself. Using that adrenalin to push on and keep going, despite pissing yourself and screaming out your terror! Yes, you are going out onto the most dismal battlefield anyone has ever conceived of. If you can conquer your fear and turn it against the enemy, then you win! Humanity wins!"

John looked at the faces of his men and said, "You can do it. Listen to your officers, follow your training and believe in them, and yourselves. When the time comes, turn your fear against the enemy, turn it into courage. I know you can do it. Good luck men, Humanity is counting on you."

It was dead silent as John stepped down, then fists raised and cheering sounded.

.

Cameron launched a drone, a single engine remote control plane. Looking down on the landscape, she noted smoke and flame covered the cities she flew over. Skirting the cities, she found groups tending to each other and masses of people fleeing. Flying head of them, she also found roads blocked and men set up behind the barriers, pointing guns in the direction people were coming from. A car approached the barrier, they shot until it went off the road and crashed. She dove down from above, aiming right behind the men who stood in a line. That picture went out as the drone crashed and released it's 3 pounds of C-4. She got another drone in the air.

Flying high, she went right to the outskirts and found another line of men shooting down people trying to flee. This plane only had two pounds of explosives when it crashed right behind them.

A third plane in the air, and Cameron checked the first two sites. At one, around the blackened circle on the road, a few wounded men were desperately fighting the mob who came at their sides, throwing rocks and whatever weapons they could pick up. Flying over the other site, all the men were dead, survivors from the city had their guns and were moving on.

Cameron launched her last two planes as the third went north over the highway. To one side of the road full of cars that were stopped, she noted a fuel truck was surrounded by a group bearing guns. They were siphoning fuel out to fill up the tank of their 4 wheel drive that the roof had been cut off and had armor on it's sides. She dove her third plane straight down into that vehicle.

The last two planes, she found a small convoy on a secondary road. One box truck, lead and followed by hastily armored vehicles. Men were all around the vehicles, watching to the sides. She dove one plane down on the box truck. Keeping the other high in the air, she watch it hit.

The explosion was tremendous. The truck disappeared in the fireball as men flew away to the sides. The vehicle in front flipped over, on fire, the one behind was pushed back, loosing it's hood. Once the big ball of flame rose into a small mushroom cloud, she scanned the scene below. If not dead, every man was wounded, on the ground. She flew her last plane away, she wasn't going to waste it on few wounded men.

Being close to flying out of range, Cameron flew her plane back, watching roads for any more roadblocks or armed men shooting at people. She did see something on the road, headed for a city. T-400's marched in a line of ten. She wasn't sure how many she could take out, but dove at the center of the line to get as many as possible.

Cameron wished she had more drones.

.

"General!" Derek yelled down the hall. "A long line of terminators spotted, marching west on 66. The will pass a few miles in front of us!"

"John came out and asked, "How far away?"

"Four miles and closing."

John though about the topography and said, "Wait until they pass, the follow them from a distance. Use the .50 cal's on them, they aren't worth salvaging. Only send half your men after them. The other half, move to the highway."

"We're on it!"

The phone in his office rang. John jogged back to answer it. 'Connor." he said.

"John, I got two roadblocks, a truckload of Grays stealing fuel, one of their ammo trucks, and dropped the last drone on a line of T-400's heading for a city. I don't know for sure the damage I did to the T-400's," Cameron explained.

"T-400's aren't the smartest," John reminded her. "Even if you didn't disable all of them, I am sure they stopped to search for where the attack came from. Your attacks will give some people time to get away, you did good, sweetie."

"We need more drones," Cameron said.

"We don't have any more," John said sympathetically. "Bring the control units back, we may be able to rig something up."

"On my way." *click*

John grinned as he put the phone back on the hook. Cameron was in terminator mode.

.

Cameron had stopped at the Way Point station to phone John and let him know her status. Heading for the door, she saw a mob outside. They were not yelling, but grumbling. Upon seeing Cameron come out, one woman yelled, "Hey we want to go home!"

Cameron asked, "Where do you live?"

North end of LA, Brewster street."

"It's not there any more,' Cameron stated. "Los Angeles, Pasadena, every city has been hit with nuclear weapons. The Serrano nuclear plant is gone. Outside, the air is radioactive and so are the thick, dark clouds that contain nuclear fallout. Your neighbors are dead, your homes have been blown apart, the remains are on fire. I just came from a mountain top lookout post and saw it. There are fires and thick smoke for as far as you can see. Forest fires have also been lit off from these explosions. There is nothing left on the surface. There is no place for you to go, so I am asking you all to cooperate. Our survival now depends upon us. This is your life now. Get used to it." She then left at a jog to return to the bunker.

.

John watched the T-400's troop by on a surveillance camera. Seeing the last of the line, he pointed and said, "A triple eight, or 800."

"800," Derek said, beside him also watching the camera. "800's are ticker than the triple eights. It's probably there to guide the 400's. We need to take that out first."

John nodded absently. "I counted thirty. If you can tazer that 800 and shoot down all the 400's at the same time, you'll have a short fight. I imagine the other force Sky Net send is similar."

"Yeah. That is if the 400's will go down first shot," Derek replied in a mussing tone.

"If possible, tazer the 800 first and get it's chip pulled. That will make the rest of the fight a little easier," John told him.

"If we can."

"I should be going with you" John said.

"No," Derek said immediately. "You're the General, John. Besides, if something happens to you, I don't want to be running from Cameron for the rest of my life. I figure give them a mile head start, then sneak up on them once they deploy."

"Make sure they don't see you until you want them to," John told him.

Derek nodded then went over to his Lieutenants. "All right, get the men up here, we're on. Remind them, no noise. Let's go!"

At the main entrance doors, John had an 'airlock' set up a the top of the stairs with a small air cleaning unit inside. Derek's 'highway' group packed in first. The inner dooor with view ports was shut and the outer door ws opened. After the men ran out, the last man shut the outer door. The air cleaner ws turned on. John watched the surveillance camera as the men crept out towards the road, made sure the Sky Net forces were gone, then jogged across the road and moved due south.

After ten minutes of the air cleaner running, the inner door was opened and the ret of Derek's men got in.

John was nervous. Even though the odds were with them with surprise and pure numbers from what he could see, he still agonized over what could happen out there. Even a flesh wound had the potential to be deadly in a radioactive environment.

After the attack platoons left, the drivers and the support team left to get in their trucks. One went down the road, slow. The other left cross country, each with two SUV's behind it.

Marching feet came up the corridor. Cameron appeared in full battle gear, sporting a .50 cal machinegun. With he was the ten man of the guard force who were toting rifles and grenade launchers.

"We're ready, John," Cameron said flatly. "I left the remote controllers in your office."

Seeing Cameron was ready to fight, John said, "You go out only if we see more Sky Net troops coming down the road. No need to contaminate anyone we don't need to."

"Agreed." she said simply.

Yup, she was in terminator mode. Stiff and to the point.

.

Derek and his men walked quickly intil the point man crouched and raised his fist. The men stopped and knelt. Derek hunched over and ran up to the front of the pack. The point man came back. Pointing, he said, "We've caught up with them, about a mile ahead. The shorter, silver one is in the back."

"Count?"

"It's looks like they are all there, Sir."

"Continue point. Take a good look around. When you can't see them any more, wave us on. We move at a walk."

"Right, sir," the man said and crept back up to his position.

Derek and his men followed the terminators for another six miles. The point man gain knelt and put his fist up. He waved once in a 'come here' motion. Derek went up to him in a couch.

"What do you got?" he asked.

"They stopped below the next rise, it looks like they are spreading out."

Derek crept forward until he could see over the hump. Up ahead about 70 yards away, the terminators had spread out ten feet apart. The 800 stood on the road. Whoever came over that knoll was going to get hammered. The 800 was also too far away to use a tazer. The range of those things was 40 yard at best. Derek backed up back below the top and motioned his men forward and to stay low. They crept up and gathered around him.

Speaking softly, Derek asked, "Can everyone hear me?" They all nodded and moved a bit closer. "The 800, the silver one is the one we want to disable. They hear very, very well. They will hear breathing if you're close enough. I need a volunteer to creep up behind it to within 30 yards and tazer it. Everyone else will set to shoot, but no one fires until I do. So, who's my volunteer?"

One man raised his hand. "I'll do it." It was Randal, a 18 year old from John's school.

Derek nodded. "Leave your rifle. That thing will pick up any noise, so go slow and as quiet as you possibly can. Do not make any noise until you fire that tazer, then hurry and get it's chip out. Everyone else, make a line at the top, quietly and just high enough that you can see them. Pick the target straight ahead of you and wait, finger on the trigger. You hear me shoot, open up on them. No noise until then. Deploy."

Derek crawled back up and got the 800 in his sights, square on the back if it's head.

Randal laid his rifle down and slowly crept over the top on his hands and knees. It was an agonizing wait as Randal slowly crept on towards the 800. Derek could feel sweat running down hi face. He blinked to get sweat out of his eyes. In the dim day, it looked like show was beginning to fall. It wasn't snow, Derek knew, but radioactive fallout. Breathe it in, and you were a dead man. Roll in it, and you were a dead man. Even walking in could be lethal, and not fast either. He'd seen too many loose their hair, their teeth and bleed for no reason until they either choke to death on their on blood, or died slowly as their body fell apart.

Randal made 20 yards and stopped. The sound of an engine coming froze everyone. It wasn't smooth, but chugged, like a cylinder was bad. Randal moved on a little faster in his crawl. Derek's mind cried for him to keep it slow, just because there was another noise, didn't mean the 800 couldn't hear him. They were capable of separating incoming noises. The 800 lifted it's gun, the 400's got ready to shoot.

"Easy," Derek whispered as loud as he dared, praying no one would shoot.

A dark car topped the knoll and the terminators opened up on it, shattering the windows, ripping up the hood and flattening the tires. Randal jumped up and took a few running steps and aimed his tazer. He shot as the 800 turned. Derek had a bead on the 800's right eye and shot the same time the 800 did. Randal flew back, the terminator's head recoiled back. Everyone opened fire.

Slower, the 400's turned as bullets slammed into them. Derek shot again as the terminator's head came upright and showing a red right eye. He shot again, and again as the terminator's head recoiled, aiming for the chin. This time the terminator fell.

The 400's were jerking and falling. His men kept up fire until they were all down. All was eerily quiet after barrage of gunfire. Even the fallout drifted silently down.

Loudly, Derek got up and announced, "Forward, keep your aim on them!"

They moved forward, rifles up. Derek didn't check Randal, by the blood on the round, he knew the kid was dead. He stayed locked on the 800. It was still, the right eye was flickering. Derek pulled out his knife and popped the chip cover and removed the CPU the light in the eye went dark. The CPU was intact. His last shot had gotten under it's armor and hit the power cord.

"Randal? Randal!" another man cried.

"He's dead!" Derek stated loudly. "Everyone, look! Look at him!" Derek announced pointing at Randal. "THAT is what happens when you don't follow orders! He did well, right up until he decided to stand up and run at that terminator. THAT sealed his fate! He panicked. He saw the car being blown apart and he tried to rush in. THAT killed him. Nothing we could do would have saved those people in that car. That's how it goes sometimes. By panicking, he got himself killed. DO NOT forget what you saw here. STAY calm and focused, NO MATTER WHAT! Your life will depend on it, and possible the lives of many of your fellow soldiers." Pointing to a man, he said, "You, go get the truck. Everyone, check each other to be sure your clothes aren't ripped."

As they were doing what he told them, Derek went up to the car now on the side, hot water leaking out of the radiator. Inside, the head of the blond who'd been driving was pillowed on the collapsed air bag, staring sightlessly at him. She was covered in her own blood. Beside her a young girl lay on the seat, also with many bullet holes in her.

It was a god-damned shame.

.

Trevor was leading is men towards the highway when an explosion lit the air in a fireball. They all immediately dropped and looked around them.

"LT?" a man asked.

"Stay alert," Trevor told him a he watched the sky. He heard a jet, then saw a streak of light shoot up. Another explosion about two miles away. This time he watched the wreckage fall. "We got air action. Keep moving," he told them.

They got up and continued their advance, watching all around them. From ahead and to the right, rapid gunfire sounded.

"Is that these terminators killing people?" a man asked.

Trevor pointed strait ahead. "Keep moving on our path, we need to get behind them," he announced.

There was a far off scream and another short run of gunfire that silenced it. The troop moved into a jog. Up ahead was the road. "Close up, and slow down," Trevor told them. Most listened.

'Three!" a man yelled pointing. Trevor saw a shiny form and a taller dark one. "Down!" He yelled. Machine gun fire came their way. As they dove into the dirt and light dust, bullets ripped though them. A man screamed, then another.

"Medic!" a man cried out.

The nearest medic was back with the truck. Having been discovered, Trevor announced, "Stay low, find cover and shoot back!" A still form of one of his men was not far away. Trevor crawled over to him, He was dead, but he was cover. Trevor put his rifle on the body and aimed. Being dark, it was hard to see long distance. He saw the flashes of shots, and aimed at the spot to fire off four rounds. His men were firing back. No one had any idea if they were hitting anything.

"Zek's dead!" someone cried.

More fire came in, his time from five different sets of flashes. Trevor put another few rounds onto the spot he saw the flashes from. He thought he saw something fall.

The fire was heavy from both sides. An RPG went shooting off into the distance. Something blew up. In the flash, Trevor saw a form coming at him. He shot two rounds at it then his gun clicked. Empty.

He reloaded and took aim again. This time it was a silver, skeletal figure with red eyes. Trevor shot round after round, The form staggered but kept coming and returned fire.

Trevor felt his shoulder explode in pain, then of all things, his ass. Jerking from the sudden pain, he lifted above his cover and was peppered with rounds from the 800. He didn't live long enough to se the RPG round slam into the 800 and spread it's parts over the field.

.

The first convoy back brought good news. Once they had gone through decontamination in the airlock, and clogged the air cleaner, Derek cam in and told John, we got the 800 and all his buddies and only lost one man. The chip is intact."

"Good job, Derek," John said and shook his hand. "Let's get your guys back in here."

"The one who died, Randal, he's soaked with radiation bad," Derek told John. "He volunteered to sneak up on the 800, but panicked at the last moment and ran at it. I tried to take it down before it shot him, didn't make it."

"You did damn good getting the rest back alive, Derek. I'll make a commendation for him. We'll have to bury him outside," John said. He didn't like it but they could not chance a funeral inside with a contaminated body. "Has he got any relatives here?"

"A pregnant girlfriend."

"Shit!"

"Want me to tell her?" Derek asked.

John shook his head. "My job. See to your men, and get that terminator on it's way to Weaver."

Instead of six men in the air lock at a time, John reduced it to two at a time. The dust was still fresh, so air blew it easily off., and the filters didn't get plugged. The last six carried the T-800 in. After decontamination, the 800 was wrapped up and carried down to the tunnel entrance. Cameron volunteered to take it. She hoisted it over her shoulder and took it down to put in on a trailer, the went back up to get the other one when it came.

.

The second convoy to return had a far different result. 9 dead, 6 more wounded and they'd blown up the 800 to keep it from killing everyone. Captain Trevor was one of the casualties.

This decontamination went much differently. The healthy men tried to bring the wounded straight in. John refused. A pair of men in anti-radiation clothing were in the air lock and had to strip off the men's torn clothes and wash them down. It was a lengthy process. Two of the wounded died, and were left outside. The disheartened remaining troops, John had gathered with himself and Derek for a debriefing.

The sergeant who wasn't killed, explained what happened. A few other helped fill in the details. In short, they were loud, they did not approach carefully, and the explosions had alerted the terminators.

John rubbed his face. Derek was more vocal. "This mission depended upon stealth and surprise. You had neither. Frankly, you got lucky so many of you survived as did. So you know, the two wounded survivors are probably not going to make it. The radiation was heavy out there, and it got into their wounds. Once it's inside you, your chances to live become very slim. Sargent …. Baker, is it?"

"Yes, sir."

"You are now Lt. Baker. You did pick up all the guns, correct?"

"Yes, Sir, we gathered everything except for the bigger terminators. We brought the smaller silver one's pieces back as ordered. We pulled the chip and kept in with the head." Baker explained.

"Good job. I'll go tell the quartermaster you'll be getting a room up in the command passage. All you men, go get something to eat and rest. You earned it."

"I have to ask, Sir, what could have we done differently?' Baker asked.

John took this time to speak up. "Derek's men took out the same number of terminators and only lost one man. How he did that was to follow orders. He kept his men quiet, no talking, hand signals only. He snuck up behind the terminators, and only the panic of one soldier got himself killed. Terminators can hear and see much farther than us humans can.

When the explosions happened in the air, that alerted the terminators there was danger, so they began looking for it, and found you. At the first explosion, you should have gone to ground and verified if they were in sight, and which way they were looking. Send a single scout if necessary. What you do not do, is charge in not knowing where your enemy is, or what his attention is on."

"We screwed up bad," Baker concluded.

"I won't argue that," John told him. "Men died because of mistakes. I am hoping the rest of you will learn from those mistakes and they will not be repeated. Sky Net will find out that someone is around here now, so we will need to be even more careful. Keep that in mind."

The repeater for the sound power phone announced, "Hill top lookout here. People coming up the road from the west. One overloaded pickup truck."

John picked up his receiver and said, "This is John Connor, Captain Grammer, get some men outside and guide those people here."

"Armory guard here Sir, Captain Grammer is on his way to the main entrance."

"Entrance guard here, two men suiting up to retrieve the survivors."

"At least some are getting through" John said. "That's all men, go take a rest." He then got the list of those who dies and had to go see their family members to explain. The worst was going to be Kacey.

.

Claire was passing out the daily food rations to people near the Way Point station when she heard Cameron yell in a rough tone. "Everyone! Come look at this! Come on, you ask why you are down here, I will give you a perfect example!"

Claire, along with many others looked to see Cameron standing by the road. On the road was a golf cart and trailer. On a large flat rock were to metal skeletons. Well, one whole skeleton and pieces of another. Cameron was pacing back and forth as she yelled out to the people gathering around her.

"You see these? They are T-800 terminators!" she yelled, flinging an arm at them. "They were killing civilians. That is their job, to kill people like YOU. They are dead now, it took 14 men dying to get these two! Four-teen!" She screamed, "Gave their lives so you would not be killed by these things! If they ever got in here they would slaughter everyone! They have no emotion, they do not bargain or accept surrender, they do not sleep, all they do is track down people to kill! By staying here with our soldiers to keep them out, you remain safe. Now, I want to hear from ANYONE, how horrible it is to be stuck here. Come on, tell me how you want to go back to your homes that have been incinerated by nuclear weapons, to face these things." Walking in a circle, Cameron asked, "Come on, tell me NOW how badly you're being treated!"

Claire saw Cameron was upset. She paced like a caged tiger, glaring at the crowd. "ANYONE!" she yelled.

Claire made her way down to where Cameron was openly challenging anyone to dare speak up. No one was, they were staring at the terminators. She slipped through the last of the crowd to face an angry Cameron.

"Thank you," Claire said loud enough for others to hear. "Thank you for protecting us." She the stepped up and hugged Cameron.

Cameron let out a sniffle as she hugged Claire back.

Claire then addressed the crowd as Cameron clung to her. "You selfish assholes!" Claire barked. "This woman and the ones with her have done nothing but their very best to ensure you ungrateful louts get to stay alive and safe when millions outside are dying. She has literally given her LIFE to help everyone she can! While you have been bumbling along, going to your parties, vacations and activities, care free, she has worked her ass of doing nothing but making sure we can survive!" Seeing Sarah Connor watching them, she pointed to her and said, "Sarah also, has done everything possible to save us, and humanity. What did she get? Ridicule and abuse! Get this people! We are alive, possibly the last people alive for hundreds of miles around. The next person who bitches about being down here, where those metal monsters can't find us, I will slap the living SHIT out of!"

Cameron pulled back. Blank faced she said, "Thank you for supporting me."

"What are mothers for?" Claire asked with a smile.

Cameron's jaw dropped open. "Claire, I'm not Allison. I am a terminator. Inside I look like those things."

Claire cupped her cheeks and said, "You are in there, somewhere. Otherwise, you would be acting like those things. You would not be working so hard for others, you wouldn't have a boyfriend. You called me once, begging for help. I will not deny you again."

"I'm Cameron, not…"

"Cameron is a fine name," Claire said, interrupting her. With a grin she added, "It will also help keep you separated in my mind from baby Allison. Don't you worry about the riff-raff down here. We can handle them. Go do what you have to do, then go spend some time with John. OK?"

Sarah came down and said, "Cameron, go on, get those things where you have to go. Claire is right, you need to take a break."

Cameron looked at Sarah, then Claire. She nodded and went over to the terminators.

Claire and Sarah watched Cameron put the pieces into the trailer, then picked up the whole one and dumped it on. She then climbed onto the cart and drove away. The people in front of her wisely stepped quickly aside.

Stepping closer, Sarah asked Claire, "You do know Cameron is a terminator also, don't you?"

Claire eyed her. "She may be one, but Cameron is special. If you can't see that, I feel sorry for you," she replied.

.

Driving down though the next cavern and into the tunnel towards the train station, Cameron suddenly burst out in tears. She had no idea why, but she could not stop crying, or get the sight of Claire holding Allison out of her head. She cried most of the way to the train platform.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

Cameron drove off the train at 'Weaver Station' to find the platform was packed with people. Sad and despaired looking, they eyed her as she was pulled half out of the train car. A man in a suit rose up from helping a woman and her child.

"Cameron?" Mr. Ellison asked. If he didn't know better, he swore there were tear tracks down her cheeks. Had she been crying? That didn't make any sense, she was a terminator.

"Greetings, Mr. Ellison," Cameron said in a flat tone. "I brought two disabled terminators for Mrs. Weaver to inspect. Are these people going to the caverns?"

"They are," he said. Moving towards the train, he said, "Everyone, there is a cavern, a safe place you can be, this train will take you there."

Much of the mass got up and walked into the back cars. As they did, Cameron said, "Hold the train for me, I won't be long." as people got out of her way, she inched forward. A quick count showed 110 people boarding the train. She noted some were wearing robes. Bathroom type robes.

"Cameron, I called the cavern," Mr. Ellison explained. "Carts will be coming to the train station to pick these people up. John Henry also would like to update with you. Wait a moment and I'll show you where to take those."

As Cameron pulled off, people getting on eyed the trailer with wariness.

"What are those?" a pre-teen girl asked.

"Sky Net Terminators. They are out to kill everyone," Cameron said flatly. She pulled the cart up by a wall and waited as Mr. Ellison guided people on. A younger woman who looked dazed, he helped up and onto the train. Once Mr. Ellison had the train load on, he signaled to shut the doors and leave.

He glanced back at the trailer full of terminators. "Got a couple I see."

"Yes, we got a couple. Which way?"

Mr. Ellison got on the cart and guided her down a hallway she had to share with people going to and from offices, which slowed her down. She managed a left corner, then came to a more open area with various machines and men in white coats.

"On the right, the second door," Mr. Ellison said, pointing the way.

Inside was a terminator 'rebuild' lab. Cameron took the whole terminator in and laid it on the steel table. The two men and the woman there eyed it in wonder.

Cameron told them, "This one was disabled by a shot up under it's chin. The bullet got inside the armor and the severed the power cable. The chip is here, on it's chest."

"That might be hard to fix, we're computer experts," the woman said.

"You shot it?" one of the men asked.

"Negative, someone else did. The other one we got is a little more damaged." Cameron said, then began bringing in the pieces.

Once Cameron piled all the piece to one side, she brought the head and the chip to the woman. "After you work on the chip, this goes in here, for those not mechanically inclined," she said, showing how the chip went in it's port. She handed the gaping woman the head and the chip, then went to see John Henry.

.

"Hello Cameron," John greeted cheerily as he worked at a console. "Sky Net lost contact with some units west of here. I assume that was due to John Connor?"

"It was," Cameron said and sat down beside him. "Two groups of T-400's, lead by a pair of T-800's tried to block the roads to keep people from escaping. The Resistance stopped them. Prior to that, I found some Grays, and ten T-400's attacking people. I used five drones in my attack and damaged them severely. I have no more drones, so I cannot do it again. I brought the T-800's back for Catherine to work on them. Their chips are intact."

"From what I deciphered, Sky Net sent these Grays and units to find out if there was any humans left that are capable of resisting. It appears in a few transmissions, Sky Net had found resistance up and down the coast. Sky Net is using radio band frequencies. With the radiation in the air, it is affecting cell phone frequencies badly. The radio range is limited also, there is no satellite communications, and that is delaying information."

"That is good for us, Sky Net's reaction time will be greatly slowed down. I estimate up to 35 minutes." Cameron said.

"Possibly longer, if the units on the field do not get a message off before they are silenced. We destroyed six H/K's that came into the area," he said, bearing a creepy smile.

"That's good. I am sure Sky Net is still working at the military, so it will leave us alone for a few days."

"Agreed, my brother will not attack again until he is sure he can overcome the forces he faces. And at the moment he does not know what he's facing," John Henry said and flashed another creepy smile. "It gives us time to build and search for survivors. The group that just left for the caverns had gathered on the floors above. Mrs. Weaver brought them down and decontaminated them as much as possible."

"John Henry, you cannot pick up long distance signals either, correct?" Cameron asked.

"Correct. It is somewhat of an inconvenience, however it is more inconvenient for Sky Net, who was relying on long distance communications to coordinate it's efforts. With the direct line telephone signal we have that is shielded, I believe we are safe in upgrading it into a communications- basic network with PC's."

Cameron was happy to be thinking about something other than Claire and Allison. "So, then our hand held radio communications are fairly safe to use, if we use them sparingly," she concluded.

"I would say so. With limited communication range and Sky Net having other priorities, now would be the best time to do any exterior plans you may have."

"Yes, I will inform John, there are several things we want to accomplish," Cameron said and got up. "Is there anything you need here? Food, water, generators?"

"Negative. The team John Connor sent to change over the fuel for our generators has proven to be very useful. Since the water is not for consumption, we are taking it out from a nearby source and to process it is not difficult. Thank John Connor for me."

Cameron offered him a smile. "Friends help friends," she replied.

"Yes, we do."

"John Henry, may I have the radio frequencies Sky Net is using?"

"Of course. What are you going to use them for?"

"Triangulation. If we can detect their signals, we will know right where they are."

.

Cameron returned to the bunker, and found John sleeping sitting up at his desk. "John?" she asked twice while shaking his shoulder.

John's head came up, "What's going on?" he asked.

"You are coming to bed," Cameron told him.

"Cam, I have to …"

"Get some sleep," she said firmly. "Don't make me carry you."

"Cam," he complained, "We have to make some sort of warning system for approaching Sky Net troops, we have far too few solders, and there's probably thousands out there who are on their own."

"Yes, John, and I have possible answers for the questions you have that I will tell you about. In. Bed." Cameron stated.

John shuffled up under Cameron's gaze and her guiding hand. Keeping an arm around him to be sure he went the right way, Cameron guided John into their room. One of the dry foods Cameron made sure they had, was some cheese puffs. John smiled sleepily as Cameron showed him the bag.

"Ohh, I love you, Cam!" John said, fawning over the snack.

"And I love you too. First, let's get your shirt off." Cameron said.

Cameron got John undressed as he munched down one cheese puff, the fell back asleep.

Cuddling up to John, Cameron noted he snuggled into her, his head on her chest. Focusing on John and their problems was another good thing that kept her from thinking too much about Claire and Allison. Cameron set her standby timer for six hours and went into standby. She needed some rest also.

.

In Beverly Hills, Ron stood bracketed by a pair of T-800's as he looked at the motley crowd who used to be rich people. His men had collected them after the bomb drops. Scared and looking for safety, they had come with his men. Others his men had rounded up, and after shooting a couple people, they cooperated. Now, the whole bunch of them were here and under the watchful eye of terminators.

"Welcome everyone," he announced. "In exchange for saving your lives, you will work here in this factory. Work and you get food and sleeping quarters. Disobey, and you get punished, or we decide you're worthless and kill you. I might reconsider your fate if your begging is genuine. Men, take the rooms on the left side. Women, take the rooms on the right."

"You're going to treat us like slave labor?" an angry woman yelled.

"Shoot her," Ron said casually. A T-800 shot her in the head, blowing her brains over the ones behind her. Screams of horror sounded. The man who was with her bellowed, "You! … I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Shoot him too."

That man went down, spraying his brains across the floor.

"NOW! Men on the left, women on the right!" Ron barked.

Begrudgingly, and casting him hateful stares, they did as he ordered. Once the cells were filled, the doors were shut, then Ron went down the line. Seeing a girl in with a man, he

Figured she was around fourteen, fifteen. Nice little body and cute. He said, "Open that door, get that girl out."

The girl screamed and cried for her daddy, but she was dragged out. The door was shut. Ron pulled her out farther out onto the floor. "Do you want your Daddy killed?" he asked.

Casting him a fearful gaze, she cried, "He didn't do anything!"

"I don't care," Ron stated. "You will do exactly as I say, or you will watch him die. I won' be fast, and after I kill him, you'll be next."

"You're an evil man!" she said. A tear dripped down her cheek, shaken off my her quivering.

"I am." he agreed. "You'll find out how evil later. For now stay by me as I inspect the other slaves."

He walked on holding a hand on the back of her cute little neck. He watched for any other girls in the men's cages, then on the other side, looked for boys and noted which girls had the most potential. He had to smirk at the cold looks of hate he was getting from the people who were going to obey or die.

The factory was a simple operation, from the incoming metal scrap, separate the ferrous from non-ferrous, then the different metals by color. He was going to enjoy punishing those who did not do their work well. On the way down the women's side, he found a pair of starlets eyeing him with venom. He pointed and said, "That dark haired one, bring her out."

A T-800 retrieved her. She was punching away and spitting until he put his gun to the girl's head. "Do you want her to die?" he asked heavily.

"Fuck. You." she growled, but stopped fighting.

He guided her up onto the platform over the incinerator. "Take your clothes off, throw the in," he commanded.

She hesitated. "Do it or I throw the girls body in, right before I throw you in," He intoned.

"Figures, you're a fucking pervert!" she snapped, but did as he ordered.

Once she'd stripped down naked and all her clothes were burning up in the fires below, he announce, "Slacking off on work will get you punished! Deliberately doing your work incorrectly will get you punished. If a couple days of no food and water do not change your altitude, watch what your punishment will be!"

He shot the woman in her perfect left knee, that exploded as she wailed out in a scream and fell. She curled up, showing her back, so he put a bullet in the top of her ass. Wailing out again, she turned over to protect her backside. He shot her in the hip. She was flailing about too much for a shoulder shot, so he picked mid body and hit her low in her ribs.

Bleeding from her wounds, she moaned out in agony.

"Throw her in," he told an 800. The 800 did, it grabbed her arm and tossed her into the fire. Now she screamed in an ear piercing wail that kept up until she passed out and died.

Ignoring the crying girl beside him, he announced. "Disobedience means death. If you want to die, just tell me I'll shoot you in the head and end your pain. Otherwise, you better behave."

To the other T-800, he said, "Get them working. Tell them what to do, and make sure they do it." The terminators moved to obey. He took the girl up to his quarters to get a better look at her. If she was suitable, she'd live.

.

Before the bombs landed - Jesse Flores was not a happy woman. First it seemed like Riley was not doing well trying to get John Connor's attention. When she finally made some minor progress, John disappeared. When he returned a few days later, he seemed disinterested with Riley. Then, Derek seemed less interested in her. Yes, Derek care to see her, but was more interested in his bottle than getting in bed for a tumble. He had this thousand yard stare to him. He also wouldn't tell Jesse what the hell was wrong with him.

A short while later, they all disappeared. John and the metal stopped going to school, Derek didn't come around any more. Jesse figured they had fled, but had no idea why, or where they could have gone. In a desperate attempt to find them, Jesse introduced

herself to Riley's foster parents as a cousin so she could 'spend some time' with her relative. Taking this opportunity, Jesse took Riley to different places, searching for any sign of the Connors. A couple months had passed by now, and they had found nothing.

It was dinner time and the foster parents, knowing Jesse lived alone, invited her over for dinner again. Jesse got along well with them. All was going well, Jesse was helping to make dinner, then from the living room, Jesse paused at hearing John's voice.

"Hello, everyone, Sorry for this interruption. I am John Connor. What I am going to tell you is real..."

Jesse dropped what she was doing and ran in to see John's face in a static picture on the screen. One of the kids tried to change the channel. John's face flickered, he was on that channel too.

"He's on every station!" the boy complained.

Jesse grabbed the remote from him and barked. "Shut up!"

".. in a few days, Sky Net is going to launch a nuclear war. Before it does, it is going to cut and jam every form of communication to delay response times, making what it is doing even worse, for there will be no warnings before the impacts begin ..."

"It that John?" Riley asked as she came in. The boy yelled, "I'm telling DAD!"

"QUIET!" Jesse barked, listening to John closely.

"... the only warning you will get, is media going off line. Television, radio, internet, cell phone services, it will all go away one half hour to 45 minutes before the bombs start dropping. The only safer places will be deep underground, or get into the mountains. Either will give you a chance of survival..."

"It's happening again!" Riley cried.

"... after the bombs hit, keep something over your face. The most dangerous radiation after the blast is a dust like form known as Alpha. It will kill you if it gets inside you. It does so by breathing it in, or if you consume something coated with this radiation.."

"Isn't that your boyfriend?" Mr. Banks asked Riley.

"Is this like the beginning of one of those 'destroy the world movies?" one of the girls asked.

"It's no movie, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!" Jesse barked.

"... Keep any food you can gather bagged, and water sealed in containers, these are your best defenses against radiation. Again, I do not know when Sky Net is going to launch, but I do know they will, soon. Pack up and leave the cities now, for your own safety."

John's picture flickered and he said, "Hello, everyone, Sorry for this interruption. I am John Connor. What I am going to tell you is real. We are going to suffer through an attack with nuclear weapons in the very near future. In a few days..."

The screen shifted to a notice saying : 'we are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by.'

Jesse clasped a shocked Riley's shoulder. "Go get packed, love, everything you got. Move!"

As Riley ran up the stairs, Jesse told a confused Mr. Banks, "Keep a TV or radio at all times. Do you have camping gear?"

Not expecting to be pressed, he said, "Ahh, we got a camping trailer, what's this about?"

"Survival," Jesse stated. "Soon, Armageddon is going to come crashing down on our heads. If you're not ready for it love, you'll become a corpse, as will the rest of your family."

"That was just Riley's boyfriend on TV, this has to be a joke!" he insisted.

"No joke, that was, or will be General John Connor," Jesse stated. "Now, I'm taking Riley and heading for the mountains. You should pack your car up with everything you can, family too, and follow us. If John says it's coming soon, then it's coming. Our time is getting short."

"I can't believe you'd fall for a prank like that!" He snapped at her. "And I don't want you getting everyone all upset! You should go now!"

"I will, right after Riley is ready to move," Jesse stated.

"No, now, get out," he yelled and pushed her back. Jesse caught her balance and pulled up with her 9mm. "Sit down!" she barked.

"You wouldn't shoot ..."

BANG

The shot went past him to bury itself in the wall. His face bore shock. All the kids were staring at Jesse. Mrs. Banks stood frozen in place, hand over her mouth.

"Sit down, or I take your knees out and sit you down!" Jesse commanded.

He sat.

Riley ran down the stairs holding a stuffed travel bag. "I'm ready, let's go!" she announced.

"Get in the car, Love," Jesse told her. "Now, are you people coming or not?"

"This is insanity!" Mr. Banks cried.

"Welcome to the world," Jesse replied. "You know the signs to watch for, we're not waiting. We'll see you in the mountains if you can make it." Jesse then turned and ran out.

Mr. Banks did the only thing his sensibilities told him to do, he called the police about Jesse kidnapping Riley.

.

Jesse drove to her apartment and quickly stuffed her things in bags. She then headed out of town. On the way, she stopped at a store and bought all the food she could, saving enough to put some gas in her car. She drove out of town a couple hours, staying off the highways. Coming to a convenience store later at night, she pulled in and paid for gas and had Riley pump it.

At the moment, there were no customers and only one attendant. Jesse grabbed armloads of bottled water to put on the counter. She got the last of the water and stacked it on the counter.

"Thirsty?" the clerk asked. He grabbed the wand to total it up. Jesse shot him in the heart. She scooped up as many bottles as she could and went out to dump them in the back seat.

"Was that a shot?" Riley asked.

"It was, keep filling," Jesse told her and got more bottles.

Filled with gas and every bottle of water in the store, Jesse drove them into the mountains. There was a resistance camp in the area, and if she remembered right it was up the road they were on now, just past the summit.

Slowing as they reached the top, an 'overlook' point, Jesse remembered this place, only the camo covered resistance guard wasn't here. Driving slowly along, she noted a familiar path off to the side. It was wide enough for the car, so she drove up it. The headlights showed features and shadows, but no small opening to the cave. Guessing where it should be, she stopped.

The only flashlight Jesse had needed batteries. It had enough of a weak beam to let her see thing that were close up. Between the car lights and her weak flashlight, Jesse found the opening. She shown her light into the cave. No reflection of eyes came back to her.

Returning to her car, she got Riley out and the first load of water bottles. "Leave your stuff here, come with me," Jesse coaxed.

Jesse walked along the path and found a long stick. She broke about four feet off it and took it back to the car. In the trunk, Jesse pulled out the tire iron and jug. From the glove box, she got her spare clip out and tucked it in her back pocket, and grabbed a pack of matches. She pulled out an old hoodie and wrapped it around the end of the stick, tying it tight in place.

Seeing Riley watching her, Jesse said, "Never go into a hole unless you know no one's home."

She opened the jug with the immediate smell of gas. She soaked the hoodie and recapped the bottle. Walking to the hole, Jesse lit a match and lit the hoodie up. She then held the other end of the stick and thrust it into the opening. The glow of fire increased, for a short while flame licked out, then slowly died down.

Jesse went over to the car and shut it off. Walking back to Riley by the dim light of the fire from inside the opening in the ground, she said, "We'll sleep out in the car tonight. By morning, the air in the cave should be good enough that we can go in."

"This is really it, isn't it?" Riley asked weakly.

"Aye, love, it is. Sorry, we're going back to post-Judgment Day," Jesse told her.

"Where's John?" Riley asked in a whine.

"Don't know love," Jesse said with a sigh. "We're going to have to find him."

Riley was quiet for a moment, just staring at the ground, then said, "I can't go back."

"No, that house you lived in is going to be gone soon," Jesse agreed.

"NO! I can't go back to ... living in a sewer, letting myself be raped for a lousy, spoiled half can of peas!" Riley shouted as she clenched her fists. "No more being a toy for some disgusting animal just to have a blanket and a piece of ground to sleep on! I won't eat rat any more! I won't drink sewer water and watch everyone I know die slowly while we wait for some machine to find us and kill us! I'm NOT GOING BACK!" she ended in a wail.

"Riley, get a hold of yourself," Jesse said evenly.

"I won't go back to that," Riley said weakly as she cried. Falling to her knees, she cried, "I won't!"

Jesse knelt down and gathered Riley into her arms. "It will be different this time," Jesse offered.

"Take me back to the city. Dying is easier than what I know is coming." Riley sobbed as they hugged.

"Can't do that love," Jesse replied. "Can't let you die."

Riley looked to at Jesse's shadowed face. "I know," she said softly.

Jesse felt a tug behind her. Too late she realized Riley had pulled her gun. The next thing she knew Riley had the gun pointed at her own temple. Riley bore a sad look in her eyes as she pulled the trigger.

Jesse squeezed her eyes shut as gunpowder and blood splashed into her face.

"No!" Jesse cried. The girl in her arms went limp. Jesse's eyes burned, she couldn't, and didn't want to open them. She knew what she would see. In a sob she barked, "Damn you Riley!" Gritting her teeth, Jesse knelt, holding the corpse that was cooling in her arms.

.

Dawn was approaching when Jesse got up the energy to move. She did her best not to look at Riley's bloody head as she got up and looked for a place to bury her. The only thing she had to dig with was her tire iron. Picking a spot that had plenty of brush, Jesse chopped at the dirt and pulled at the plants, angrily ripping up the ground.

The effort took a long time. Midmorning she stopped to drink some water and get half her water supply into the cave. Taking the food in, she tore open a can of peanuts and crunched them down. Then, it was back to digging in the nearly knee-deep hole. She was hitting rock, and pried out a few stones that would be good for covering the grave. The bottom was uneven and in part of it, the stone made a floor. Bedrock, she wasn't getting that out. She dug deeper where she could.

Exhausted, Jesse drank some more water and ate half a can of Pringles. A few more gulps of water and it was back to digging. Half the hole was chest deep as the sun was going down. Screw it, this was better that most people got after the war started.

Dragging herself up out of the hole, Jesse found Riley had turned stiff. Her clouded over eyes were open, staring at nothing. Jesse tried to close them. The lids would move down, then slide back up.

"At least the pain is over for you," Jesse told the corpse. She hauled Riley over to the hole and put her in head first, pushing her limbs down to fit her in.

In the dark, Jesse had Riley covered and was putting the big stones on top of the grave when red and blue lights flashed into being. Looking up, Jesse saw a spotlight focused on her car.

"Fuck," she grumbled. Jesse touched her gun for assurance it was there, grabbed a bush she'd ripped up and staying low, stepped quietly to the cave entrance. By the time she got in and put the bush in front of her, two cops, guns drawn, were shining lights in the car.

"Dave! Report in, we've got the car, no one present."

"Be careful guys, this one's armed and dangerous!" a yell came back.

"Pete, there's blood spot up here! Shell casing too!"

Jesse could see one of the cops right in front of her, shining his light on the place where Riley decided she was going to end it.

"Hey, Pete! I can't raise the station, out link is cut and there's nothing on the radio but static!"

"Try your cell phone?"

"Yeah, nothing!"

Jesse knew what that meant. She pushed the bush aside and yelled, "Hey, get in here, hurry!"

A bright flashlight was immediately shown in her face. She squinted and waved. "Hurry up! Get in here"

"Come on out, keep your hands where I can see them!" the cop ordered.

Jesse thought fast. She held up her hands and said, "I can't move! I've been chained in place! I'll show you my hands but I can't get out!" Her knees were folded against a rock. As long as she could grab his hands, she could pull him in.

"Stay still, Dave…"

A bright flash, brighter than daylight lit up the sky and ground. Jesse winced, shutting her eyes. It was still bright and she could see the outlines of the objects before her.

"Ahhhh!" one of the cops cried out. The one in front of her dove to the ground. In the aftermath of the flash, she was bright-blinded, but she knew where he was. She crawled out and grabbed his hands, pulling him in.

"What the hell," he asked weakly.

"Nuclear detonation, help me get your ass in here, more nukes will be landing!" Jesse barked.

The cop struggled on his knees as Jesse pulled him in. Once they fell in and he tumbled past her, she said, "Stay away from the entrance."

From the entrance, another bright flash lit up the cave. The wind howled as a concussion wave blew past. The mountain rumbled. Jesse scrambled up to see outside, the brush was burning. The wave had blown her car farther down the path. A policeman was on the ground, screaming and covering his eyes. His uniform was smoldering. She ran out an grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him to the cave. Climbing in first she pulled him in behind her.

The first policeman had recovered enough to help her get him in. This one still had his flashlight. Another blast wave howled on by, making burning debris fly past. Jesse grabbed his flashlight and turned it on. She handed it to the other one. "What's your name?" Jesse asked.

Another flash lit up outside, then another.

"Hey! What's your name?" Jesse asked again.

"Joe, This is Dave… where's Pete?" he asked blankly.

"Most likely, dead," Jesse intoned. "Nukes are being dropped, we need to cover our faces and get lower in the cave." Between then, Dave moaned. His face was raw meat, skin was hanging off his hands.

"Dave's not going to make it," Jesse stated. She'd seen this before. If he lived a few days, it was going to be in agony. Joe's skin showed blistered red on the side of his head from the back of his neck to his cheek. Focusing on her had saved his life.

Joe gapped at her, then at the outside. "This can't be happening," he muttered.

"It is, we need to get deep, fast. Shine your light down there," Jesse ordered.

"But the bombs have gone off."

"More are coming, let's go!" Jesse said firmly.

"How do you know that?" Joe asked in a challenge.

"I've lived through this before. Help me carry him!"

They went down a rough ramp of rock and came to where the first guard post was. It was flat enough to lay Dave down. Thankfully for him, Dave had passed out. Jesse looked up. A dull orange light was coming from the entrance. "The brush is burning. I'll go up and get the supplies. Stay here and watch Dave."

Jesse climbed back up and carried as much as she could in each trip. She got the food and the water down, placing it wherever she could.

In a daze Joe looked at her and asked, "That blood on the ground, and on you, what happened here?"

Jesse sat back on a rock. "Do you remember John Connor on TV and radio, warning about the bombs?" she asked.

"Yeah, no one took it seriously … but he was right, wasn't he?"

"He was. I know John. If he says something, he's usually right. I was at Riley's house when I head the warning. I told Riley to get packed. She did. I tried to tell her foster parents that John's warning was no joke. They wouldn't listen. We left. I imagine they called the police after I left."

"Yeah, we got a call you kidnapped their foster daughter at gunpoint."

"I was trying to get them to see reason and come with us. They refused," Jesse said, correcting him. "We got up here, where I knew a resistance base was going to be made. Riley broke down. She didn't want to live … like an animal any more. See, Riley and I have lived through this war once before. The planet gets nuked and the only safe places are underground, eating whatever you can find, rats, insects, I do mean, whatever you can find. She refused to live like that again. When I was hugging her, trying to comfort her, she grabbed my gun and shot herself. I managed to give her a more-or-less proper burial. I was finishing when you guys showed up."

Joe blankly reached out his hand and said, "I need that gun."

Jesse eyed in him for a long moment then pulled her gun and held up out by the barrel to him. "You know what? Fuck it. I came back in time to make things better, I failed. The bombs are still dropping, I didn't stop the metal, and Riley is dead. Every fucking person I ever cared about is gone. The cities are gone. Your police station is in a nuclear wasteland. Go ahead, take it. You're probable the last cop alive so if you think I'm guilty, shoot me. You can deal with this shit all by yourself. I don't give a fuck any more."

He took the gun loosely, staring at her.

Jesse waited a moment, blank faced, then said, "Well, if you aren't going to kill me, I'm getting something to eat. I'm hungry."

Up above another super bright light flashed down into the cave, lighting it up briefly.

"We're all going to die," Joe said weakly.

"Unless we can find John Connor, that's a probability," Jesse agreed. "You want some? I'm only opening this once."

.

It was decided that looking in cities was a bad place to be looking for survivors. The outskirts and smaller towns had a better chance of people surviving the blasts. It was also decided that John was not to leave the bunker, for anything. Cameron got this idea going and everyone agreed. The only order from John no one would obey, was to let him out of the bunker.

Volunteers were asked for in the survivor hunt. Charlie Dixon volunteered but John turned him away. At the moment, he was the only trained medical person they had. Like John, he was too valuable to risk.

More anti radiation clothing was made, mostly with uniforms that had gloves sewn onto the ends of the arms and tucked inside boots with hoods and face cloths . The groups would be ten each. One officer, four soldiers and five searchers with tools to help get people out from under debris. All four box trucks would be used, 2 teams in each. The top of each truck had holes in the roof for lookouts. They were not to engage the enemy if at all possible, and if an engagement did happen, getting civilians out of harm's way was top priority.

Cameron led one team. The closest bunker was on a mountaintop only twelve miles away, and a vital lookout post. Cameron took her team into the canyon to climb up to the lookout post on top of their mountain, making much shorter trip outside.

The lookout post had grown some. A real ladder was what they climbed up, instead a rope ladder to get up to the post. At the top, a pit tall enough to stand in with a cover bearing soil and dead plants covered the post. View slits let the guards see outside, and a hatch let people in and out. An air cleaner had been brought up, and drew air in. the exhaust blew out of the view slits, minimizing any radiation inside the pit.

Getting her squad together, Cameron shifted the machine gun in her hand and said, "I will be point." Pointing to two soldiers, she added, You two will be wing points, back and to my sides, left and right. You other two will stay back with the rescuers and assist them as needed. We scout, then move. Everyone, be careful not to rip your clothing. I leave first, followed by the wing points, then the last two soldiers, then the rescuers. No talking unless it is vital. Hand signals only. Any questions?"

There were none. Cameron looked out the view ports then said, "Squad, exit."

Cameron scanned the area again after she got outside. Once everyone was assembled, she walked away, scanning ahead of her. Every few minutes, she looked back to ensure he squad was intact.

Cameron paused at the down slope, holding a fist up to indicate everyone to stop and crouch down. She scanned this hillside and the next, searching for any movement, threatening shapes or heat signatures. She found nothing. She raised a hand and motioned them on.

Coming down the hill, they met a dirt road. Cameron stopped them again to study the road surface. There had been no traffic here for at least a few weeks. Moving on, she stopped again finding a heat source near the stream at the bottom. Moved on alone. In the brush she found a man and two children huddled together.

"Hello, we are here to take you to safety," she said.

The man looked up at her. "Thank God! Are we at war?"

"We are," she replied. She motioned the rescuers forward.

All three could walk. Face cloths were put on them. None of them were showing hair falling out, so Cameron called back to the lookout post on the radio. "Mountain team, we found three survivors. Will need decon."

A simple 'received' came back.

Cameron sent a soldier and a rescuer back with them. She and the rest moved on. Working her way up this mountain, Cameron found more trails but no sign of movement. At the top, she slowly circled around the summit, again searching for any signs of people or terminators.

She found some. Standing still on a road coming up the mountain, two T-400's were watching the down slope of the road. Fading back, she moved and found two more by a burned-out police car. Another pair were off the road, at the entrance of where she knew another resistance base was. Again she faced back and motioned her three soldiers together to gather around her.

"There are six T-400's ahead, spread out, two by two. T-400's can be destroyed with the guns you have. They are also limited on tactical ability." Pointing to the two on the left, she told one man, "Down there, two are watching down hill. When I begin shooting, they will turn and head for where they hear gunfire. Position yourself uphill of them, but stay low and out of sight until I fire. Once they turn away, you'll be able to shoot them. If you can get both without them turning around, great. It they start to turn back at you, get under cover. The object here it to keep them out of the fight until the others are dealt with."

"Understood, Ma'am."

To the others, she said, "You two stay off to my right 50 yards. There are two beside a burned police car. Make sure you have a good firing position with cover. Once I start shooting, take them out. Keep firing until both are down."

"Understood, Ma'am."

"Take care getting into position. No noise, and stay low. Once I am ready, I will give you ten extra minutes. Rescuers, stay here and low. Go."

Cameron took her time walking crouched over to directly above the entrance. As soon as she saw the heat of the terminator easily, she laid down and crawled up behind the next large rock. She heard faint voices from ahead and to the left.

A male said, "I peeked up like you said, someone's out there."

Jesse Flores whispered back, "Describe them."

"Squarish, like they have some kind of armor on."

"Fuckin terminators!" Jesse spat. "All right, stay down, stay low, don't make any sounds."

Cameron peeked around her rock. She saw a hole in the ground. A vent in the cave below. She counted down her ten minutes, then gun ready, she shot to her feet and opened fire on the terminators. They adjusted their aim and fell over as Cameron's bullets ripped into them. They got a string of rounds off, into the air, not hitting anything. Cameron ran and jumped down in front of the entrance. To her right was gunfire. She jogged out by the police car to see both terminators down. One was moving. She put a long burst of fire into it. It stopped moving. Turning to the last threat, she strode towards the road. Her soldier appeared and gave her a thumbs up. She motioned him up to her.

.

"Who are they shooting at?" Joe asked in a whisper as the rattle of machine gun fire came through the entrance above.

"Not us, love, that's all we need to know," Jesse stated.

After the frantic rounds of gunfire, all fell silent. Then a familiar voice called, "Commander Flores, I am entering. Do. Not. Shoot!"

"It HAD to be her!" Jesse spat, then called, "Come on in, we need medics."

"I will get them."

A short time later, a form bearing a machine gun on it's back crawled in, followed by two other forms. They all had flashlights. Jesse stood up as the lead form climbed down to them.

Jesse gave a salute and said, "I hate to say this, but I'm happy to see you, General Metal."

Cameron looked at Joe, then Dave. She also eyed the meager supplies Jesse had collected.

Turning to look at the ones behind her, she said, "Wound treatment and decon for these two. The woman is Commander Flores, ensure General Connor knows she's coming."

The medics opened a kit and took out face covering hoods and suits for them.

"What about Dave?" Joe asked.

"Dave is dead, treatment will not help him," Cameron stated flatly. "Come out after you're looked at." Cameron then turned and climbed back up and went out.

"Who was that?" Joe asked, surprised by her abruptness.

"Cameron, John Connor's number one play thing." Jesse grumbled.

"Weren't those terminators out there? These people beat them?" Joe asked.

One of the medics chuckled and said, "Cameron beat them. She's a better terminator than they were."


	6. Chapter 6

CH 6

Other than the six 400's here, Cameron had not seen any other terminators. Once the 400's were dragged down inside the cave that was going to be Fire base Charlie, Cameron had her three soldiers stay at Charlie and wait for reinforcement and workers to come. She took the rest of the team, Jesse and Joe back to the mountaintop lookout post herself.

As they walked along, Joe asked, "Ah, General? what did that guy mean, you're a better terminator that those metal things?"

"I am," Cameron told him. "I am faster, stronger and smarter. Those were T-400's. They didn't stand a chance."

Joe looked at Jesse and asked, "Then why did we hide from them?"

Jesse eyed Joe and replied, "We're not metal and we didn't have big enough guns to take them on."

"But, the general here just walked in and wiped them out," Joe stated.

"With help, and the proper weaponry," Cameron told him.

Jesse eyed her and said, "That gun just made it easier for you."

Cameron said, "That is true, the proper weaponry does make it easier."

Joe frowned at her and said, "Those things were made of steel."

"I am made of a hyper alloy combat chassis, I would win. Even the T-800's we downed were made of inferior metals. They look very similar to a high quality terminator, but are not as strong," Cameron explained.

Joe looked closer at Cameron. Even with the face mask and goggles they were all wearing, not to mention how she was interacting with them, it was hard to believe. "You're not human?" he asked.

"I am TOK-715, and advanced model terminator and assistant to John Connor."

"That ... can't be," Joe cried, "I mean, you look and act human."

Cameron glanced at him and said, "You must begin to accept facts you are not familiar with."

"Like my world had been blown up?" he asked in a heavy tone.

"Yes. Like your world had been blown up. If we do not come together and beat Sky Net, it is over. Civilization, humanity, everything ends."

.

Marching back to the lookout post, a figure opened up a hatch and poked his head out. He was in a white coverall suit and full hood with a window for his face.

"Welcome back. Wounded first, we have a basic decon station here. One at a time, and we'll get you through fast as possible."

Cameron had Jesse go in first. It was a strange decon station. The white suited man had her hold a bare wire in her hand then used what looked like a modified shop-vac to vacuum her off. As he worked he said, "You are holding the negative end of a lead, this vacuum holds the positive end. the difference in charges will repel the radioactive particles off you and the vacuum will attract them and blow them back outside."

After he vacuumed off her clothes, he had her strip, then vacuumed her off again, and vacuumed her clothes separately. Another set of clothes that looked like a uniform was them passed in to her.

After Jesse was dressed and out, Joe went in and got the same treatment. As they watched, each member of the rescue squad got their outer clothes vacuumed off, then went in.

"Why aren't they stripping?" Jesse asked.

"We know they were clean leaving, and their clothes didn't get ripped," one of the soldiers said.

When Cameron came, in, Joe was expecting to see a meal sheathed thing, maybe with CCD camera eyes. He was surprised to see Cameron looked like a very pretty young woman.

"You are one of these terminators?" he asked.

Cameron grew a tiny grin. "I am a scary robot," she stated.

Joe thought briefly about these things looking exactly like people and being very much tougher. If she wanted to kill a man, he was sure she could just walk up to him, smile and crush his neck. "Yeah, you are," he agreed.

Once they were all inside, Cameron led them down the ladder and on to the Way Point station. Cameron held the door for Jesse and Joe and led them on to the counter. To the waiter behind the counter, she said, "These two are survivors, give them a full meal." To Joe, she said, "You were a policeman. We need guards and solders. If you wish to volunteer, come with Jesse to the main bunker when you're done." To Jesse, she said, "When you are done, John wants to see you."

"I'm still in the resistance?" Jesse asked.

"Yes, you are, Commander, even if we have no fleet. Yet," Cameron told her.

"Cameron!" Came a happy call.

Cameron turned to see Claire coming. Claire noted Jesse and Joe and said, "You found more survivors, good for you."

"Better for them," Cameron stated.

"Indeed." Claire saw Cameron was not in the best of moods. She offered, "You know you can eat here any time you like. You don't have to go all the way back to your bunker."

"I do, Claire. John is waiting for me to give my report," Cameron said in a flat tone. "I must be going now."

"Come by later then," Claire said and waved.

Cameron waved back and fled to the main office.

.

Since there was no eating or drinking anything while they were out, Cameron's team took full advantage of Claire's offer while they waited for her return.

Cameron called John and gave her report. Charlie Bunker was secure and waiting to be built up, Jesse Flores was here, and she'd left three men at Charlie with the six destroyed T-400's. A total of five people had been found and brought back.

John looked at his map as Cameron told him her information. When she was done, he said, "Good work, Cam. The roads to Charlie should be clear. We have one set of teams that came back with eleven more people. After they get decon'ed and inside, I'll give them time to rest, then have them load their truck up with essentials and drive up to Charlie to start making it a base." With a grumble he added, "We need more ... of everything."

"We do. John, we are getting there, a little more every day," she assured him.

John looked at the rescue progress. Three teams were back, only 16 people found alive. Part of him thought they should be doing much better than that. Where in the hell was everyone?

.

Lt. Baker was leading one team in the truck that stopped outside a small town. The roof watch, looking out the top of the truck had called out he saw movement in the town. The driver stopped. Lt. Carter got up in the hole in the roof and looked, then came down and gave Baker the binoculars. "Take a look, what do you think?" he asked.

Baker climbed up. In the distance he saw mostly intact buildings. Since the roof watch had been quick, the truck was still below grade and at this distance, no one in the town had seen them yet. He watched a figure walk along with a gun. OK, if he was in a town, he'd want it defended. He then noted in another part something was happening. Two men made a third kneel between them. Another came up and hit the kneeling figure. Another hit then a gun was pulled and the kneeling figure was shot.

Baker climbed back down. "Not good, they just executed someone," he stated. "Can't see how many there are."

Motioning, Carter said, "There's two roads to that town. This one, and another that runs east to west. We're not suppose to engage unless we have no choice. We only got ten fighting men between us."

Baker tapped his radio. "How about this. Keep the truck here, I'll take my four and sneak into town and check it out. If there is trouble and we can handle it, we will. If not, We bug out and bypass this town."

Carter weighed his thoughts then said, "OK. If you need help, let me know."

Baker looked at his men and said, "Let's go, we're sneaking into that town to see that's going on."

.

Baker had no trouble sneaking in. He found no lookouts. The only guard he saw was focused on the town streets. Crouched low, Baker and his men followed a ditch to the town, then got onto a side street and stuck to the side of a house. The place was

burned out. Gently pushing open most of a door, Baker was happy the place was build on a concrete slab. He slid in and motioned his men to check the place out. It was blackened with fire on the inside, but that didn't mean no one was here.

Creeping to the front, Baker got below a window, his corporal was across the room under another window. Voices came from outside.

"Get Everyone's hands tied tight! Someone gets a stupid idea of escape, then they get killed and take a few more with them," a man announced. "No one gets stupid, no one gets dead!"

Baker slowly slid up to peek outside. A long line of people were cuffed and tied together. He slid back down and motioned to his Corporal 'how many'

The Corporal shrugged and opened his hand, displaying five fingers three times then pointed one finger up. Great, fifteen or more, and there were five of them.

Straight offhand, it was a no-win situation. They were better off sneaking back out of town, calling it 'unwinable.'

A cry yelled out, "Leave her alone!"

One of the men sporting guns was behind a teenage girl, He ripped her blouse open as a few gun toting men laughed. The girl struggled, a young man in line tried to kick the molester. He received a rifle butt to the back of his head.

Baker noted the rest of his men creep in low. Corporal Hathcock mouthed, "We have to do something!"

Outside the girl yelped and squirmed, trying to get away as her shirt was torn open. All the men around guarding them were watching the show. This was their chance. Baker pointed to men, the windows then pointing out their targets, silently giving them firing positions. He pointed to himself then twitched his finger. He would fire first. They all crawled in place below their windows.

Baker shouldered his rifle then rose up and aimed. He didn't aim at the molester who was holding the girl with one hand, the other down the front of her blouse, but at the ones in front of him who were grinning at his antics. Lining up perfectly, he blew a shot through the neck of one to hit a second one, taking out his spine. As their blood flew, all his men opened up.

The four around the girl fell, the one fondling her flew back, missing a portion of his head, dragging the girl with him. Of the ten men on the street, six were down after the initial shots. While the ones still standing looked for where the shots were coming from, they were shot down. Baker rolled out the window and aimed at the trucks in the road as he barked, "Hathcock left guard, Deitz right corner, Jackson, Perry, get those people under cover!"

A single man raced out from beside a tuck and was hit by three bullets. He dropped. Two of the trucks started up and fled down the street. Baker shot the back of one truck, aiming for the tires. Thinking he saw a head poke up in the back, he raised his aim and fire into the bed. That truck drove into a building and stopped. The truck in front blasted out flame as the gas tank was hit. It turned and rolled over. The driver staggered out. Another shot and he fell.

"Jackson, Hathcock, Check the area clear, Deitz, intersection watch." Baker announced. "Perry, look at the bodies for ID's let's find out who these clowns were." Baker then walked towards the line of people who has smartly laid down to keep from getting shot. He keyed his mike. "Lt. Baker, we are in town, got downed hostiles and many survivors. Needs medics and fire support, first street into town."

"Is fire live?"

"Negative, hostiles are suppressed." Baker replied. It had been much easier than he could have guessed. Apparently those gray clad figures weren't very sharp when it came to combat.

Once his men searched and found no more of the flat gray clad men around, they untied the people. Baker went over to them and said, "Attention people! I'm Lt. Baker with Connor's resistance. We have a truck coming. If you are hurt, a medic will look at you. We have a safe, underground environment. If you wish to come , you may do so, it is for your benefit. If you don't want to come, that's fine. Can any of you tell me who these dead guys are?"

"They said they were the Gray Empire," a man said with a sarcastic snort.

"How about where they came from, anyone got a clue?" Baker asked. No one did.

"OK, is this all of you in town here, or are there more?" Baker asked.

"Why do you want to know?" a woman asked in a challenge.

"Like I said, we want to help anyone who's hurt, and we have a place safe from scum bags like those gray assholes, as well as Sky Net terminators. Those things will be coming too, and they are not nearly as easy to kill, but they will kill anyone they see." Baker explained.

"We got a civil defense shelter," A man said, "But thinking these gray fucks needed help, we opened it up for them. After that, we saw they had guns."

The truck came up the street and stopped. "Baker, status!" the man on top yelled.

Lt. Baker shouted back, "Green, no casualties, we're in the assist phase."

.

The people thanked them as they were freed. None of the grays had any ID, and every one was dead. The trucks were normal box trucks from various companies. A radio was captured, but nothing was on it to listen to.

The town's civil defense shelter was a basement under the church. Other than some food and water stocks, they didn't have much. They certainly didn't have any form of protection from radiation. Baker told a couple of the older men how to set up air tight seals, and warned them not to eat food that hadn't been sealed up. Most of the people wanted to stay, so Baker and his crew did their best to help them and promised to ask General Connor to give them assistance. A pack of young men who wanted to go fight 'in the army' to help get rid of 'the scum' came with them.

The townspeople even let them take one of the undamaged trucks with them to go find more people who needed help.

With the extra gas they got from this town, Baker's team drove to the next town to the north. In this one they found nothing but bodies. ome were fresh, one was a woman who'd been stripped and shot on the head told them it wasn't terminators who had done it. All the food stores had been stripped, and the gas stations tanks had been emptied. In the desolate town, they found the hardware store that was mostly untouched, and took all the materials they could find, from piping to steel stock, electrical wire, lumber, tools, nuts and bolts and even glue and paint. The truck they got from the previous town waddled back, packed full with materials, as did the truck they brought from the Bunker.

It wasn't the best search mission, but they did bring back results.

.

Upon the last search parties returning, John got the news, Grays were searching for people also, and killed anyone who didn't cooperate.

Sitting at the command conference table, Lt. Baker said, "The townspeople said these guys called themselves 'The Gray Empire'. That means there is a lot of them. One good point though, when we opened up on them, they were clueless. We killed ten right off the bat, then picked off the others who ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. No military discipline at all."

"And the next town to the north you found, they had already visited?"

"Correct, Sir."

"Cam, can we see towns from the mountain top?" John asked.

"Some. Fire base Charlie has the best overlook to the east," Cameron told him. That is in our hands now, but it needs to be built up from scratch."

"Then it will be," John assured her. "Lt Baker, you got plenty of material in that vacant town?"

"We did sir, both trucks are riding low on their springs," Lt. Baker told him.

"Good job, Mr. Baker, all the way around. I'm going to sent you out again with your full platoon to fire base Charlie," John told him. John then looked at Jesse, who had been quiet. "Commander Flores, Can I count on you to command fire base Charlie?"

Jesse nodded. "I will, Sir. I take it our priority is those Grays?"

"And building up Charlie. I have a team that can put together air cleaners to get rid of the radiation inside the base and provide you with some internal power. I'm also going to look at a tunnel between here and there as well as direct communications. That's for later. Right now, your top priorities are tracking Grays back to wherever they are taking people, and building up your base of operations."

"No hard feelings about Riley?" she asked.

"We are at war, Commander, we have no time for hard feelings," John said firmly.

"Yes, Sir."

"Captain Grammer, empty one of those trucks outside for a trip to fire base Charlie. Fill it with supplies and material for a base build up. Commander Flores will show you the way. Lt. Baker's men will assist your guard force. Time is of the essence."

"Yes sir," Captain Grammer said and got up. "Lt. Baker, meet me with your men by the entrance post, ready to work outside."

"Will do, Sir."

John then turned to Derek and said, "Send out scouts, I want to know where this Gray base is, and what they're doing."

"John, I should go help them," Cameron said.

John shook his head. Casting her an apologetic look, he said, "We need to talk."

Cameron tipped her head slightly. By John' expression, this was going to be a serious talk, and she had no idea what it was going to be about.

.

After the meeting, John took Cameron by her hand and led her to their room. He shut the door and led her over to sit back on the bed, holding tight to her hand.

"Did I do something wrong?' Cameron asked, curious why he brought her in here for a talk.

"No, No, you didn't," he assured her. Turing to face her, he said, "Cameron, I don't care what the truth is, I want to hear it. How much of Allison Young do you have in you?"

Cameron was caught off guard. She stared at John, not expecting to him to ask something like that. "I don't know," she said honestly.

"I remember a trip to the store that got very involved because you thought you were Allison," he said gently. "Many people heard your rant when you stopped in the cavern to show people those 800's. The also heard Claire Young basically tell you she was your mother. I also heard that after that, you pretty much cried your way to the train station. Now I don't care what other people think. If you are part Allison, then you are. If you're not, you're not. I do think it is important to you, and to Claire Young that we find out what the truth is."

"John, I'm not Allison," Cameron said quickly.

"I know that. You're Cameron. Do you have memories of when you were made?" he asked.

Cameron felt her breath hitch. "John, I do not want to talk about that," she said flatly.

"Frankly, I don't either," John agreed. "Certain dirty details I'd be very happy not knowing. I can see you're upset already. Your left hand is twitching, even if your voice didn't waver. The thing is, we need to know for your own sake, what the truth is. It will not change the way I feel about you one bit. We just need to know, me, and especially you."

"I killed her John" Cameron said in a rough tone. "I was trying to get information on your base, she lied to me, I got angry and I killed her!" Cameron said, shaking slightly. "Is that what you want to know?"

"What happened after that?" John asked, trying to maintain an even tone. Did you have her memories then?" he asked.

"No, only some information," Cameron said, her voice going hollow.

John put an arm around her. Her hand was quaking and her right hand, the one he was holding started to twitch. He really hoped she didn't break his fingers, but he wasn't going to let go. "Ok, calm down hon. It's all in the past now, just tell me, what happened after you killed her."

"I don't know!" Cameron cried. "I was directed to bring her body back to the lab. Tubes were stuck in her neck and I was told to lay beside her, then I was taken off line!"

John thought for a moment then asked, "How long between when you killed her, and when you were lying on the table?"

"43.5 seconds." Cameron stated as a tear ran down her cheek.

"That's it? 43 seconds?" he asked.

"43.5 seconds," Cameron corrected.

John realized he had learned something important in biology. The brain could survive up to two minutes from the time the heat stopped beating , if it got oxygenated blood flow.

"Cameron, this is very important. Was Allison still lying beside you when you came back on line?"

"No, her body had been taken away. It's use was over," Cameron said with another hitch.

"I see," John said slowly. Looking at her quivering in place and a tear travel down her cheek, he asked, "When we were helping Nancy pull wires out of those planes, You jumped out and hugged me, telling me you were free. Free from what?"

"Sky Net," Cameron said quickly with a choke. "The programs were gone, I … didn't have to follow them any more." Turning her head to John she paused and said, "I… I'm not confined any more. I love you because of who you are, not because some program forces me to. John … I …" she stopped speaking and lifted up her left hand to stare at if for a moment. "I'm in a fake body! This … isn't me! It hasn't been for a long time. I DIED in that room!" she whimpered.

John's jaw dropped.

"I DIED John!" she cried. "But that didn't end it, did it?" she asked casting him a questioning look. "I tried to convince myself I was all metal. No, Sky Net convinced me I was all metal! A fake, a terminator. That there was no human in me at all. But that's not true, is it?"

"I don't think it is," John agreed. "I haven't thought that for a while. The only thing Allison's body could have been good for after you killed her was her living brain. We may never know how much, but I think that if you are not running any command programs, it is Allison's brain that is in command of your body now. This is truly who you are, Cam. You are Allison in the TOK body. Enhanced by electronics, but … well, this is you."

"Oh god!" she whined and dove into John and cried her eyes out. John held her and petted her hair and back as she wailed out her agony.

"You are still you," he said softly as he did his best to comfort her. He kissed the top of her head and in a musing tone said, "Maybe that time you got confused in the store, some … glitch happened and the real you tried to get out. You have nanites to heal, right? That means even if your brain, NOT your CPU, was damaged, over time it would be getting healed. Possibly connecting paths to your memory locations and reasoning centers to rebuild itself. With no command programs, you're truly free to be who you are."

"I can't be Allison!" Cameron cried. "I killed her! I snapped her neck! I remember that …both sides if it," she said softer. She looked up at John. "I was sitting in that chair. I was standing on the other side of the table…I reached out in anger … I grabbed myself by the neck … how … how can that be?"

John shrugged and said, "You have memories of Allison and the terminator, because you are both," John concluded. "Like you said, Instead of Sky Net driving you, programs telling what to think and do, everything is open to you now. You belong to no one but you."

"Wrong," she said and hugged him. "I'm yours, John Connor, and you are mine."

John chuckled. "That's true too," he said.

They took a moment just to cherish holding each other.

"Do I dare tell Claire?' Cameron asked quietly.

"I think she suspects already," John replied. "Though, you might want to go have a talk with her. She is your mother."

Cameron let out a giggle. "I have a mother. I really have a mother!"

"And a boyfriend who loves you with all his heart," John added. "As well as a grumpy mother-in-law to be."

Cameron popped her head up. "Say that again."

"And a boyfriend…"

"No! The mother-in-law to be," Cameron said, watching him intently.

John blinked. "I, aah just assumed… I know, I shouldn't assume like that," he said. Slipping free, John got down on his knees, gripped her hands and asked, "Cameron, I know we lead one twisted life, but when we can find the time to do it right, would you marry me?"

Cameron's face widened in a big smile. It faded as she asked, "John? I have a metal body, not a real one."

"Don't care."

"I can't have children."

"Don't care."

"I can never again be human."

"Don't care. You're my Cameron. That's all I care about," John said seriously.

Cameron slipped down to kneel with him. Hugging him tight, she said, "Yes, John I would feel proud to be your wife. Very proud and very happy!"

"I love you and you love me," he said.

"For the rest of our lives," Cameron agreed.

They pulled back to look at each other lovingly, then came together in a heartfelt kiss. The kiss went on and became lustful.

No one saw them for the next 4 hours.

.

Claire and Daniel got home after a nice dinner at Way Point station. To their surprise, fresh butternut squash was now on the menu, as was honey glazed peanuts. Claire had to as where such fancy fare came from.

The waitress said, "The gardens we have underground are producing. To pollinate the plants, bees were brought in before the bombs dropped. So we have honey too. Not a lot yet, but for things like glazing peanuts and flavoring foods, it's enough, and people love it."

"Yes I do!' Claire said with a wide grin. "I never thought I would see fresh vegetables ever again!"

With a grin the waitress cast a look at Daniel and said, "Wait until the fish farm builds up steam."

"Fish farm?" Claire asked.

Daniel frowned at the waitress. "That was suppose to be kept a secret for the time being," he grumbled. He nodded and said, "If things go good, we'll have enough catfish to feed people and maintain the stock without deleting the natural population in the lake."

He then winked and added, "Same goes for the crayfish too. Those get to be big buggers," he said, holding his hands a foot apart. "All but lobsters, meaty devils too."

Having the day end with a great meal and the promise of things looking up even further, Claire was content when they headed home. Even Allison was sleeping peacefully from her rough all day of play with the other young children.

"Who's that?" Daniel asked. Claire looked up seeing someone sitting against the side of the house with a big rifle.

Clair looked closer as they approached. The person's hood was off, hanging down their back. With the light just right from the road below, she caught her profile.

"Cameron?" Claire asked.

Cameron lifted her head, then got up. Facing Claire she said, "You were right."

Walking up to Cameron, Claire asked, "About?"

"I didn't want to remember," Cameron said, looking off to the side. "That whole thing was frightening and brutal. John helped me remember. It was still very hard to admit … to know I did that to myself. I did though. Claire, I do have Allison's brain, but the rest of me is fake. A machine. Since I didn't want to face it, I didn't want you to know, either."

Claire passed Allison to Daniel, then hugged Cameron. "It's OK dear. Please, don't tell me the details. I already feel horrible you had to go through that. I want you to remember this, though. You do your best for others. You have gone through hell, and came out the other side. I don't give a damn if your body is metal or a … full sized Godzilla! You are, and always will be my daughter, I will always be proud of you, and you can count on me any time. OK?

Cameron sniffled and hugged Claire back. "OK … Mom. I have to go watch for Grays. Your house was on the way so I just wanted to tell you, you were right."

"Thank you for that. So, when do we get to sit down with this John of yours?"

Cameron cracked a small grin and said "When we make our wedding plans."

"Oh, you better come see us before then!"Claire admonished. "Unless this is immediate?"

"No, we want to wait until we're both not so busy. We want to do it right and enjoy it," Cameron said, her smile growing.

Claire smile back and said, "I bet you do! You've earned it, Cameron. Just be sure to find a camera. I want lots of pictures."

"OK, Mom. I have to go."

"Go on, be careful and we'll see you soon."

Claire took Allison back and went inside. She felt she'd just had the best day of her life. Her daughter was a real-life super hero!

.

One thing people in the bunker, and especially in the mountain top lookout post were glad for, was the heat generated by the hydrogen engines that powered their equipment. As the thickly overcast days continued, the temperature cooled. Instead of the mid 70's seasonal norm, the temperature outside in the middle of the day was down in the 50's. At night, one could see their breath.

So far, with everyone who went outside needing to have full coverage suits, it was a little more comfortable for them. Lt. Carter noted that unless these dark clouds went away enough for the sun to break through, it was only going to get colder. It was also pretty depressing when even mid-day was dimmer than a day of thunderstorms. Not that they had seen any rain yet. They were in for a nuclear winter. Hooray.

Carter's command post for his screen of scouts was on the roof of what used to be a motorcycle shop. He'd picked this place for a couple reasons. One was it had a good, commanding view of the area. He could see the highway and two roads coming from the north. The other reason was, there were motorcycles here. The gas station down the street still had gas in the storage tanks, and some hose to draw the gas out, keys in the office for the bikes, and they had transportation for each scouting party.

Lt. Carter send out four-man scouting parties in a east-west line, making sure every road from the north was covered. A highway road working shed had piles of those orange road cones. Each scouting team had a stack of a dozen cones. The plan was simple.

Upon sighting Grays, they would follow the Grays as far as possible. A cone would be placed on it's side the direction the Grays went, another cone when the grays turned, pointing the way. Each cone would be weighed down with a rock or whatever was handy to keep it in place. The only time a cone was to be set upright was when a Gray base was found. For obvious reasons, the scouting parties were to do their best to not be detected. Connor figured, and Carter agreed, when they had enough information on the Gray movements, then the location of the Gray base would present itself.

Carter's line only covered twelve miles of every road going north to south in the area. He only had three radios, so each 'post' in the three towns they covered had one. If a scouting party found Grays, three of the men would begin following, the fourth would ride to the nearest post with a radio, and report Gray numbers and direction. That word would be passed up the chain of command to decide if they were to be overtaken, or only watched. Unless told otherwise, Gray were only to be watched.

Hearing a motorcycle, Lt. Carter saw a rider coming across a field from the west. He rode right into the shop and came up the ladder to the roof, where Carter met him.

"Sir, he said and pointed, "We got six vehicles going north, two are tractor trailers. Guys in gray clothes, carrying guns visible. No idea what's in the trucks."

"How fast, what road, show me," Carter told him and led him to the map.

.

Word was passed to command. John had the route and makeup of the Gray convoy in a matter of minutes. Updates on their track came from the scouts following the convoy. Another scout team reported the another convoy's position they were following.

John also got another report from fire base Charlie. Watching to the west with a telescope, headlights were seen going north and south on a coastal road. Small convoys that moved only during the day. From what John was seeing, it looked like Grays

were basing themselves in the Hollywood area. He decided to move some troops by those roads to grt a better look at who was coming and going.

.

Refugees were still trickling in with a near constant flow. The town that once decided they would stay in their town, thought better of it after a few people died from radiation poisoning, and they no longer had any food. By that time, several more died, and the rest of them, 63, were sent to the Charlie's medial center in the cavern hoping he could save some of them.

Their population now was 11,600 inside the bunker and cavern system. 83 were at fire base Charlie, and Weaver's facility had 340 people. A simple form of trade emerged.

Weaver made things like the prototype 'Connorstug', a small car sized vehicle on tracks, lightly armored with an inch of ceramic over the armor to ward off heat bearing weapons, and a 20MM semi-auto canon on top. The thing was also good for 62 miles an hour over roads and smooth ground. The highest point on it was 4.5 feet at the 20mm canon sight that was remotely controlled from the passenger seat.

Having two of these vehicles, in exchange for a few carts of vegetables, mushrooms and catfish, John put them to work with the scouting teams. Each one also had a radio. Carter's scouts were thrilled to have them. Between the Connorstug vehicles and motorcycles, they were able to cover more ground, quicker.

.

Three weeks after Carter's scouts began looking, they had tracked the Gray convoys back to what used to be a mansion. Despite protests, and Cameron insisting she was coming also, John went to the place where his troops were hiding near the large walled property that was now some kind of factory. There were guards there, metal T-400's and early T-800's. All the terminators though were guarding to keep people in.

In a hotel nearby, John looked at the hand drawn map Carter showed him and Derek.

"The outer wall is patrolled on the inside by 400's," Carter explained. "We have identified 10 T-400's, and six T-800's. Man wise, around three hundred, we can't be exact, they have many prisoners they are holding as slaves. We saw a couple 600's, I think those are being tested. Two convoys of semi trucks leave every day. They come and go through this gate. We've seen enough of the inside to say the large buildings here are the manufacturing plant. The smaller structure is for the Grays quarters, we don't know where the prisoners are being kept."

John studied the map and the plan Carter had made, and Derek approved. "What about their comms?" he asked.

Derek pointed at a tower and said, "Radio tower, right there. Sneak some men in to plant charges on the radio tower, when the gate is opened for a truck, a rocket takes the truck out so the gate can't be shut, the radio tower is blown, then the fun begins. Sniper and grenade launchers cover the open yard from the wall tops, we go in right though the gate. Once the yard is clear, we move in, blowing doors before us. Anyone in Gray we find, is surrenders of is shot. Anyone in gray we find with a gun is killed along with every terminator we can find."

The man on the balcony outside said, "Convoy coming in, two trucks as usual, three SUV escort."

John nodded to Derek and said, "Do it."

Derek nodded back then said on his radio, "Everyone on alert, we're blowing that first truck, get in position!"

Ladders went up against the outside walls of the mansion. Soldiers climbed up near the top, but not over. One man with a rocket launcher across the street on a roof, peeked up. As the truck turned to go into the gate he aimed. when the cab was about to enter the gate, he shot.

The gate looked impressive, but when the RPG hit the truck and blew the cab apart, the gate flew away in chunks of twisted iron. All terminators in the yard turned to the explosion. The escorts recoiled. Resistance soldiers came out of hiding nearby and poured fire into the escorts outside. Many dropped, a few just cowered in place. Those who tried to run never made four steps before they were shot down.

All the terminators inside focused on the explosion and gunfire. They moved towards the fight, looking for a target. Above them, resistance men finished their climb up to lean on the walls and shoot grenades and .50 Cal rifle fire down on them. The terminators were slow to react, causing them most of their numbers. Only three 800's turned to shoot back.

Outside the gate, the pair of Connorstugs raced up to the gate and through the mess, into the courtyard. One slid to a stop and put a 20 MM round right through an 800. The other shot, taking off an 800's arm. The machine jerked as it's arm and it's gun went flying. Men on the walls peppered the two standing 800's with .50 cal fire until they fell.

A side door opened in the building. an 800 came out. It shot at a Connorstug, the vehicle deflected it due to the steeply angled armor. The Connorstug fired back, hitting the 800 to knock it down. Both Connorstugs fired into the interior though the doorway as Connor's men poured in through the gate, and over the walls, sliding down on ropes.

Inside the factory, when the explosion and gunfire sounded outside, all the workers dropped to the floor and tried to tuck themselves under or behind machines. The terminators all moved to eliminate the threat. The Grays carrying guns, saw the 800 get blown back into the building with a large hole in it, and a couple T-400's were hit, pieces coming off them before they fell. The Gray men who saw this headed for the back of the factory, away from the fight. They ran into the stockroom to find several blackish clad men with big rifles, who opened up on them. A couple got to scream out before they were blown away.

A Gray near the production line, who was waiting for a woman to get done for the day so he could have his turn with her, ducked upon hearing the chaos outside. He forgot all about the woman as the gunfire increased and strange figures burst in to step over the downed metal terminators. He got down and aimed to fire back and something hit him in the head. He fell to the side, holding his aching head. The last thing he saw was the woman with his gun, glaring at him, and the flash of the muzzle as she shot him.

In his office, Ron realized all the exits were covered, there was no way out. The stairs down from his office had two soldiers there, aiming up at his door. He'd had his little toy in a bikini, just because she looked cute in it. He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the door. He opened the door and pushed her in view.

"Drop your guns! Back away, or I kill her!" he yelled.

He peeked out, the men hadn't moved. Another man yelled back, "If you let her go and surrender, we won't kill you. You hurt her, and there is no way you're leaving here alive!"

"I want to talk to your leader, NOW!"

After a few tense minutes, a man called up, "General Connor is coming up."

Connor? He peeked out again. Their dark clothes covered them from head to toe, even their eyes were only slits of goggles.

General Connor. John Connor, the one Sky Net was after? Was that who was coming up the steps. If he took Connor out, he was sure Sky Net would reward him handsomely. To be sure the man got close enough, Ron waited until he was only a few steps away, then stood up from behind the girl and shot Connor in the head.

Connor took another step up.

He shot again, watching the bullet move the cloth as it went in, then blood appeared. Connor took another step and was now on the other side of the girl. Ron backed up and shot again. Connor pushed the girl aside, grabbed his gun hand and twisted.

Cracking sounded as agony filled Ron's arm. He was forced to turn and bow, then he was shoved so hard he hit the wall and bounced. Dazed, he felt his other arm lifted and twisted. Crackling sounded as he wailed in pain. He then hit the floor on his face, hard.

Gasping for air, he heard a female voice. "Are you hurt?"

This bullet proof soldier was squatting in front of his girl, who was sitting, staring at her. With the head gear off, he could see the woman was young, and had a bloody trench on her cheek that had a silver bottom, two holes in her forehead were backed by silver also.

His girl asked, "Are you going to kill him?"

"Only after he tells us what we want to know."

"Can I watch?" the girl asked eagerly.

"Sure. Just stay out of the way." the woman said like a mother speaking to a child.

Ron tried to get up, his arms were useless, even trying to move them hurt bad. "I won't tell you anything!" he roared.

"You will," Cameron said, then added, "I called for a medic. Not to help you feel better, but to help keep you alive. I will torture you until you tell me everything I want to know."

"Fuck you, bitch!" he spat. He tried to kick her, His foot slammed into her hand and stopped. She squeezed, he screamed as she crushed his foot to the sound of bones crackling and snapping.

"First question, who do you work for?"

Ron paused, afraid to tell her to fuck off. She crushed his foot harder and bent his toes back against his shins. He wailed out in pain again.

"Who do you work for?" she asked calmly.

"Sky Net," he said in a squeak.

The girl he'd been abusing sat and smiled as the man who'd mistreated her was being punished for what he did. She liked this lady.

.

John was appalled at the condition the people here were in. They were bone thin, his men gave them their rations. Many were loosing their hair and teeth. Talking to some of the survivors, they were being kept alive as long as they worked. If they were too sick to work, or simply refused, they were thrown into the incinerator to be burned alive. The girl Cameron brought down from the single office above went searching person to person, looking for her father.

"This is a scrap metal recycling plant," Cameron told John. "They separate metal types to be melted down into ingots, then shipped to other Sky Net factories to be reused. It is functional, but not vital. such plants can be made easily."

"The slave labor is what made it worth operating," John concluded.

"Yes. Sky Net told the Gray what they want, he shipped it to where Sky Net told him."

"Is this the only plant?" John asked.

"No, there are more. I have the list of places he shipped to. Some are in Oregon, Utah, and farther east. There is a storage facility in Nevada he was told to send material to when there was no other need for it."

"Places to hit when we can," John stated.

"Yes. John Henry thinks we have a couple more weeks before Sky Net tries it's long distance communications again."

"And what do you think?" John asked.

Cameron tipped her head slightly and said, "I think John Henry looks hard at facts, but misses some things. Instead of trying to force a signal though the radioactive air at a long distance, Sky Net will work at a string of short distance radio towers like we are forming. That will be more efficient and less chance of failure."

"I think you're right," John agreed. "Have we picked up anything from Sky Net yet?"

"Not directly, No," Cameron said in a grumble. "It's almost like Sky Net is hiding. It had units and Grays, yes, but every communication is second or third hand. Sky Net does not come into this half of North America at all. I'm afraid it is building up massive forces to hit us with."

Cameron felt a tug in her arm. The red headed girl in the bikini, now wearing a resistance blanket around her shoulders, said, "My dad died, he was burned up. I found out from a man who was in the next cell, I have no place to go. What do I do?"

"Come back with us, I am sure Claire can find you something." Cameron told her.

"Who's Claire?"

"My mother."

"I don't have a mother any more … or a father." the girl said sadly.

"What's your name?" Cameron asked.

"Cindy."

"Would you like it I asked my Mom ad Dad to be your Mom and Dad too?" Cameron asked gently.

"So, you'd be my sister?" Cindy asked.

"I would."

"OK!" Cindy heartily agreed.

"General!" Derek called over. "Area verified secure. We also got a truck load of coltan in the second trailer."

"Thank you Colonel. Get that truck ready to move, Weaver's going to need it." He grinned at Cameron and said, "We might have coltan terminators before Sky Net does."

Cameron nodded, then with a grin, said, "I know where there's another truckload of it. Right where I dumped it in the ocean."


	7. Chapter 7

CH 7

After the first Judgment Day, Sky Net had battled broken militaries with it's first terminators and H/K's to great effect. Even loosing units, it had wiped human militaries clean from vast areas so it could begin building it's factories to wipe out humanity with hardly no interference. Humanity was all but stamped out by the time John Connor arrived. It's total command of all tech and communications assured it victory.

This time was different. While the human militaries did not have access to digital communications, over North America, neither did Sky Net. The satellites that provided those communications were gone. It was gaining a solid grip on Asia and Europe, but in the US, it was facing a hard fight just to beat the human military who were beginning to strike back. In a quarter of the area, the entire West Coast, Sky Net had no control whatsoever. Any unit that went there never reported back. Sky Net had only gained one more factory, and in a desperate effort to get rid of the human military, it had used the last tactical nuclear missiles to bomb the areas of heaviest resistance in the middle of the continent and in the east, followed by an immediate ground attack.

John Connor didn't arrive years after the war started this time. Even before it started, he was preparing to fight Sky Net. The loss of the Serrano nuclear plant wasn't as devastating as it would have been in the first future. Fighting hard in other parts of the continent just to win, Sky Net didn't have the resources yet to even put a significant force in the west. It would deal with that area after other area's were pacified.

That gave John Connor and his resistance even more time to build up and strengthen their forces.

John walked through the now captured Nevada storage facility that used to belong to Sky Net, briefly. The Groom Lake base, known as area 51, was a shattered mess. Buildings were blown apart, rotten corpses of men and destroyed machines, crashed planes and H/K's were everywhere. Sky Net had won this battle, but it had paid heavily to do so. Now with Derek's division of 2500 men, twenty Connorstugs, and the long line of trucks and support vehicles, with their own H/K fighters cruising the sky, John and Cameron went into the bunkers that survived and were filled with ingots of metal.

"General Connor!" a happy sounding Lt. said as he tapped his clip board. "Sir, we have more steel, copper, tin, brass and aluminum … that we know what to do with! We're talking TONS of metals in here, and this is only one bunker. There are three of these that are filled, and the fourth is a little under half full. We can make a friggin army with what's stored here!"

John cracked a grin and said, "Remind me to thank Sky Net for supplying us."

Cameron told him, "John we don't have the ability to move this much material all the way back to Weaver. We'd need thousands of trucks, and more gas than we can possibly find without a refinery and some oil wells. Even if they are converted to hydrogen, this area lacks water."

"We're using lake Tahoe as a pumping station for fuel grade water. Not enough, huh?" he asked.

"Yes, not enough. We need more electrolysis units," Cameron said.

"We always need more of something," John grumbled. "OK, not right here, but we need another factory. Underground like the others. If it's close enough we can dig tunnels back to here so we won't be seen moving material on the surface." After a pause, he said, "There should be bomb shelters here somewhere. Get a hold of Derek, have him send some men to look for them, if they aren't already. We can use those to help start building our tunnels."

Cameron nodded and motioned over the radio operator that followed them around. She had him contact Lt. General Reese.

Other than Grays they had encountered and defeated, and small units of low grade terminators, John could not believe they had yet come across a serious attempt by Sky Net to squash him. So far, they had intercepted signals from Sky Net radio towers in several locations and blew those towers up with signal following missiles. Sky Net hadn't reacted yet. It was damn peculiar. He could just see it building up for a knockout punch to them. The trouble was, he couldn't find any sign of where it might be coming from, or what it might be.

John was ready for a counter-attack. In several places he had underground bunkers that were self sufficient and housed 2000 soldiers each with the first plasma canons and 50 Connorstugs also with stronger plasma canons. Weaver was teaching her first crop of TX's, and was building another 50 made of coltan and liquid metal.

He had a weird thought. The first few months of WW2, the Germans called 'Sitzkrieg', neither side did hardly anything. Was that what they were experiencing now? Where they were, Sky Net did not have the tech advantage. Maybe that's why it was shying away from a major confrontations.

If that was the case, he had to get and keep his tech better than what Sky Net had. He had to think of things Sky Net didn't.

Cameron came back and said, "John, Derek is putting a priority on finding any bomb shelters. He also said the mountains to the west are most likely the best place to put an underground factory. I also got a message from Weaver. She's expanding her facility, and visited the San Diego naval base. It was hit with a ground burst. There are still a few ships floating, but everything there is very radioactive. Unusable to us. She wants you to approve a plan to use those ships as AI driven units to guard the coast. Once her first TX's finish their schooling, they can begin repairing and modifying those ships."

"Send back, AI ship plan approved. We need every advantage we can get," John told her.

Cameron called the radio operator over to have him pass the message back.

White flakes were falling. At first, John thought 'more fallout?' He note it was colder. Holding out his hand, he caught one of the lazily drifting flakes. It melted in his hand.

Oh great, now the had to contend with snow.

As he thought that, he realized Sky Net had to deal with it also. He pondered on how to use cold weather to his advantage.

.

"Come on Cindy, time to get up!" Claire called up to the loft bedroom Daniel had build for their new daughter. Daniel and Claire had adopted the 15 year old red head for two reasons. One, she was an orphan with no family. The other, Cameron asked them to. Cameron explained she'd been held as a sex slave and needed a family.

"Already?" Cindy whined and leaned up to look down the ladder to her room.

"Time flies when you're sleeping peacefully," Claire chided. Thankfully, Cindy was fairly healthy. Yes, she'd had some hair fall out, and she lost a tooth, but in the empty patches on her head, she had red stubble growing out. Claire wasn't sure where Cameron got the anti-radiation medicine that looked like milk she insisted Cindy drink, but Cindy was doing much better.

With a groan, Cindy hauled herself up and climbed down. "Papa here?" she asked. She called Daniel 'Papa' because she only had one 'Dad', and he was dead.

"He went to work already. We have to get going as well. Myself and Allison are ready, cereal or breakfast at the Way Point station?"

Cindy paused and said, "I'll get my card. Way Point station." Since there was no monetary system, and people just laughed at dollar bills, Sarah Connor created a card. If people volunteered and put in a full day's work, they were allowed to eat hot meals at the Way Point station and get points towards picking out things that had been salvaged and decontaminated.

One could just sit back and do nothing, they would still get their weekly rations of food, but if they needed work on their house, new clothes or anything, they had to work at something and earn points. Even the 'pickup crew' who help the caverns tidy and made sure the roads were flat and easily traveled, had a good sized crew.

That prodded almost everyone into doing jobs of some sort. Cindy helped Claire at the food distribution center. Many men decided to join the Resistance. In front of the Way point Station, the latest news of the Resistance was posted on the black board facing the road. Seeing how many families had at least one relative in the Resistance, it was a popular place.

Allison was up to toddling, and liked to walk places. Cindy held the little girl's hands and walked her to the road. A thought came to mind, Cindy asked, "I heard something, and I was wondering about it."

"What is it?" Claire asked.

Frowning a bit, she said, "Cameron is my sister now … but what is she?"

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"Well, I saw many people get shot after we were taken. They died right away, or were in serious pain. When Cameron came up the steps to that man's office, he shot her in the face three times. She just grabbed him and broke both his arms, like getting shot didn't even hurt. She took her mask off to talk to me, and I saw the wounds., and the shiny stuff where I think bone should have been."

To try to sum up what she knew, Claire said, "Cameron has had a very, very tough life. She's fought wars before. I don't know the details, and I don't want to, but she had herself … made into a machine. The only thing she has left of her that's human is her brain. If you want to know more, then you'll have to ask her."

"Can I have that done too?" Cindy asked.

Claire stared at her. "Why would you want that?" she asked in a gasp.

"Then no one will be able to hurt me, either. Even if they shoot me," Cindy said simply.

"No, hon, you don't want that," Claire told her firmly. "Cameron did what she did so she can save us, and everyone else. Cindy, she sacrificed herself, and even who she was, so others do not have to die or suffer what she went through. She is still suffering from what was done to her. I don't want you to go though something like that, and I know Cameron doesn't either."

Cindy nodded and watched Allison toddle along happily. "She went to that place just to save us. I want to do something for her," she said in a pout.

"I'm sure you will think of something to show her you appreciate what she did," Claire told her. "I also know that Cameron would be very disappointed if you had yourself … mutilated like she did. She did that so no one else has to."

"Cameron loves us."

Claire smirked and said, "She does. That's why she's out there, fighting Sky Net. So we'll be safe. Want to go look at the board and see what they're doing?"

"OK. Then breakfast. I'm getting hungry."

.

Fire Base Bravo started in a multi-building basement. An old factory that had buildings on both sides of a street, had tunnels between building basements. Far enough away from the bombs so it wasn't heavily radiated, the concrete buildings had their windows blown out, but didn't collapse. Steel doors remained intact. Built during the Cold War, the factory was made to withstand a nuclear blast. While the structure held, the 'modern' additions didn't. Not a single 'energy efficient' window stayed intact. The modern data cables were fried, the solar panels were blown off the roof tops, and the emergency generators tied to the PLC system tripped off line.

Martin Bedell had gathered some men and their families upon hearing John's warning. He had seen a terminator, he knew it was real. His small group had gotten underground into the basements of the old factory one of his fiends worked at. Many people had come 'just in case' he was right. J-Day came and since then, Martin had been working to gather and train people in their small network of basements interconnected with tunnels.

Another group came about three months after the bombs dropped. Captain Carter, a member of the Resistance led by John Connor, had full anti-radiation suits, decent guns and vehicles. Bedell quickly agreed to join his group with Connor's. The buildings over them were solid, so he became Commander of fire base Bravo. Air cleaners were brought in with modifications to make the complex's generators hydrogen powered and PLC controls were removed get electricity back. Two buildings had first floors that were intact.

Sarah Connor arrived to help the 346 people at fire base Bravo grow fresh, radiation free food. Since this was a factory complex, Catherine Weaver arrived to help assess what equipment was there and usable. In another two months, the residents of Bravo had clean air, food and water. While they were short on weapons, Martin was happy to hear the 'front' was in southern Oregon, mid Nevada and Arizona. The main concerns in California was rescue / repair/ and build. Martin Bedell became Major Bedell, and got a supply of large caliber riles, a few machine guns and four 'Connorstugs' to help defend his facility.

'Fire Base' Bravo became more 'manufacturing facility' Bravo. Pipe forming machines were modified to make canon barrels. The foundry made steel plate and gun breeches. Steel trucked in from Nevada was joined with coltan trucked in from southern California to produce a very resilent and heat resistant armor plate for the Connor Stugs being made in Weaver's facility.

With manufacturing now a reality in the Resistance, sub way tunnels were opened and inspected. Down here, hundreds more survivors were found, eeking out an existence. The Grays nor Sky Net were able to eliminate them, John Connor had stopped that plan.

While every base was pushed to be self sufficient, each had a specialty. As people were found, they were given food and medical assistance. They were also asked to choose the facility they were going to be sent to. Weaver's Facility was officially 'Alpha'. That and Bravo were the factories. The Caverns was becoming the big food producer, and Charlie and Delta were the military bases.

.

Six months after the bombs dropped, John Connor called for a command level meeting in the Caverns. The Resistance had grown exponentially. If Cameron was correct in her figures, which she was, their total population now was 121,473 people. The army had 14,500 soldiers, with more coming as men and women got though basic training.

They also had new challenges with snowfall. Not wanting Sky Net to find their bases by following the tracks in the snow, or plowed roadways, the Resistance was staying underground as much as possible. 650 people were now designated miners, digging tunnels to connect the bases and lookout points. Bravo base made tunneling tools, and tested them in digging south to meet an old subway line to connect them to Alpha base, which in turn connected then to the Caverns and Delta base. Another tunnel was nearly completed to connect Delta base to Charlie.

Returning to Delta, John and Cameron spend a night in their own bed and made the most of it. In the morning John talked to Major Alex Grammer, now the commander of Delta, while they were having breakfast.

"How are things here at Delta?" John asked him.

"Packed," Alex said with a smirk. "The lower tier gardens are producing well. A few bees got out when someone left a screen door to the growing areas open. That caused a some excitement, noting catastrophic. Right now, we have finished the ramp from the second level straight up to the outside, so we can get vehicles to and from the tunnels. It's camouflaged from the outside and had two lift doors, no entry from the outside. On the second level we have a mechanic's garage. Since we got snow, I brought our wheeled vehicles in. Some need work anyway, I also didn't want tracks in the snow to give us away. We have a standing population of 4700, all soldiers, many skilled in other things as well. We are still growing enough food that we haven't dug into the reserves for ourselves. We have given a few pallets out to other places who needed it. One to Charlie and two to Bravo. Overall, I'd say we are doing well."

"Agreed, keep up the good work," John said, then added, "At one time, I thought this place was too far out, kind of sticking our neck if you will. Now, it's far behind our forward posts. We're going to need to dig new bases in Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. Even that far out, except for isolated skirmishes, we've seen nothing from Sky Net. That means it is up to something we're not seeing. That's one of the things we're going to talk about at the meeting today."

"The trouble is, we've had no big trouble," Cameron said. "It feels like Sky Net is deliberately letting us think that we have better tech than it does. Almost like it is coaxing us to attack."

"Weaver should have word on those ships she sent out," John said. "The long range scouts we sent, we should have word on soon also. We'll find out when everyone gets together."

Alex asked, "John, I remember, you mentioning Cameron had gone through this war before, as have others. Is it possible by the things you've done already to stop Sky Net, that you've crippled it so badly, it cannot act very fast?"

"Possible," John admitted. "That's not something we can afford to believe, or count on. It is also possible Sky Net knows we have people that know what happened before, and it has formed a strategy to trap us, like I am hoping to trap it."

"That is many possibilities," Alex noted.

"Yes, hence we need to know before we act," John said.

"Here's to knowledge then," Alex said drained his cup.

.

From the bunker, John, Cameron, Alex and Derek rode a golf cart to the Way Point station in the caverns. The Way Point Station itself had grown. Starting out as single building, as the population grew, so did the need for services. In what looked like a shopping mall, the road split into a pair of one way streets to help keep flow going.

Entering the Way Point station, They passed the food distribution center, across the street from the Employment center, then the clothing exchange, across the street from the gardening center, then smaller buildings that were the tunnel building office, rock removal and carving office, Lake management office, then turned on a side street then went uphill, the sign reading, 'main offices' and pointed up the hill. The building up above was a real house sized building with a parking lot where a few golf carts and a Connorstug was parked.

"Who brought that in here?" Alex wondered as they got out.

John noticed the scrapes on the side and a chip out of the armor. "Might be from the front," he said.

Going inside, a guard opened the door for them. Cindy, dressed as a maid beamed Cameron a smile and said, "Welcome, Cameron, come on in, let me get you something."

"Hello Cindy, how are you doing?" Cameron replied.

"Great! I'm working with Mom at the food distribution center, and I've put my name in for recruitment for the Resistance!" Cindy beamed.

Cameron's smile vanished. "Cindy, you want to join the resistance?"

Cindy nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah! I want to help defend people too."

"Cindy, it's dangerous," Cameron said flatly.

"I know, I'll be careful," Cindy told her.

"Cindy, you have to be 17 to join," John told her.

Cindy eyed him, then returned her attention to Cameron. "I know I can do it! I want to help," she insisted.

"We'll discuss it when you're 17," Cameron told her.

"Why 17?" Cindy asked. "Why not 16? I was supposed to be 16 on November 14th, what month is it now?"

"Cindy," Cameron said firmly. "Next year in November, you can join. I appreciate the fact you want to be involved, but you will have to wait another year."

"When did you join?" Cindy asked in a challenge.

"I don't remember. We are not talking about me, but you," Cameron stated.

Cindy cast her a perfect terminator stare and said, "If you make me a machine like you are, then my age won't..."

"NO!" Cameron snapped loudly. "Don't you even THINK about that! No matter what I will not allow that to happen!" she growled loud enough to turn everyone's head in the room to them. "Cindy, you have no idea what I've suffered through! You cannot..."

Pausing to get a hold of herself, Cameron spoke in a more even tone. "Cindy, when you're 17, you can join the Resistance. You will never, ever be ... put through what I went through."

"I know what it's like to be abused, I lived through it," Cindy countered.

Cameron cast John a frustrated look and said, "I need to talk to Cindy."

"Yes, join me when you can," he quickly agreed.

Cameron turned Cindy by a shoulder and said, "Out here," and marched Cindy outside.

John went into the room to meet with the base commanders. Catherine Weaver was there with John Henry, Jesse had her head engineer, Mark Ingals, with her. Martin Bedell came with his manufacturing manager and his second, Captain Wallberg. John also noted a man in regular US Army fatigues. John went over to greet the man.

The man was saying to Martin, "I can't wait to meet this John Connor."

Something about his voice made John pause. He sounded stiff. It was not monotone, but more like a pre-memorized statement. He moved around behind the man. Martin saw him.

"Hey John! We made contact with the US army, this is Major Richer of the 11th Infantry division, Second army," Martin announced.

John saw the man turn to him. John stopped and watching the man's right arm. The man bore a neutral face as he turned.

"John Connor?" Major Richer asked.

"And you are?" John asked in reply, not answering him.

"Major Jacob Richer, 11th Infantry, Second army," he said as he extended his hand to John.

John clasped his hand, ready for anything. "Pleasure," he said flatly.

"So you are John Connor, leader of the human Resistance?" Major Richer asked.

John felt his hand tighten. In his mind, he thought 'metal'. John tightened his grip as well and dropped, pulling hard on the Major's hand. The Major felt heavy, but tipped towards him. John used his grip to yank himself up as Major Richer hit the floor. John twisted the major's arm up and back and jumped on his back. The major straighten his arm and threw John off to tumble into someone.

John scrambled up as the Major did. The Major pulled a gun, John pulled his tazer and shot. So did the Major. John recoiled, the Major shook and dropped limp.

"His Chip!' John gasped in a yell as he held the right side of his chest. "Pull his chip!"

"You mean..." Martin asked in a gasp.

"Hurry!" John cried with a wince as he tried to get up.

Catherine Weaver appeared over the fallen Major. Making a hand into a blade, she slashed his scalp, peeled it back, popped the cover and pulled the chip out. Looking at the stunned people around her she pointed to John and said, "Help him."

John tried to stand up, but many hands laid him back down.

.

Taking Cindy outside, Cameron went to the corner of the building and faced her. "Cindy," she said firmly. "What was done to be was not by choice. I was tortured, then I was killed. Even that did not stop my agony, for then I was put into this… fake body by Sky Net to go kill John. Thankfully I failed. For a long time I could not control what I did. It was the worst kind of torture to be trapped inside this body. Only recently someone who knew what happened to me, freed me. You do not want to be like me. If you truly plan to become a soldier, I will do what I can to help you survive, but please know, I've had a very horrible life that I would not wish on my worst enemy."

Cindy gapped at her, "But… you got shot in the face…"

"There are worse kinds of pain that physical. I think you should know that," Cameron stated.

"Yeah," Cindy said softly.

A shot sounded out, the screaming. Then a cry of, "Someone shot General Connor!"

Cameron rushed inside. Cindy followed.

John's shirt was ripped open and a man was over him, ready to do CPR before John could get out, "Stop!" He sucked in a breath and said, "It hurts like hell, but it didn't go deep."

A man lening over him catapulted backwards, Cameron took his place. "How bad?" she asked, eyeing him fearfully.

John looked down and said, "I don't think it went past my ribs, but it hurts like hell."

Cameron grabbed a bandage and sat him up. "Pliers," she said, looking around.

"We have forceps", a medic said, showing them to her.

"Pliers?" John asked.

"John, this is really going to hurt, bear with me," Cameron told him.

"OK," he said weakly.

Cameron put the forceps into the bullet hole and worked to grab the bullet as John turned red and tried not to scream, failing. She pulled the bullet out and clapped the bandage on.

John let out a sigh. "Thanks," he said weakly.

"You got lucky, the medic said, "That must have been a bad round."

"No, John's skeletal structure is changing," Cameron explained. "His bones are absorbing metals like iron and nickel. His denser, stronger ribs stopped the bullet."

"What?" John asked

Cameron grew a crooked grin and said, "I've been feeding you nanites. To heal and to reinforces your structure."

John stared at her. "You mean, when we …"

Cameron grew a grin and winked. "Yes, John, I don't want to loose you."

Catherine Weaver removed the chip from inside her palm and said, "His mission was to collect information on the resistance and if the opportunity presented itself, kill John Connor. His makeup is inferior, a steel/nickel/carbon alloy. He has a T-800 frame, but an inferior model"

John got up with Cameron's help. Holding a hand over the wound, he told her, "Not that I don't greatly appreciate what you did Cam, but could you tell me next time?"

"Sorry, I forgot." she offered.

John pointed to the terminator on the floor. "Who brought him here?" he asked.

"The Stug crew." Derek said.

"Get them in here," John ordered.

"Right away," Derek stated and stormed out.

John went over to the large meeting table and sat down with Cameron's help.

"Can I do anything?" Cindy asked.

Cameron looked at John. John said, "Everyone who's not in the meeting, out. Cindy, can you help with that by watching the door?"

"I can!" she said firmly.

"Shall I remove the terminator?" Catherine asked.

John shook his head and said, "Not yet, I want the Stug crew to see what they brought in here."

.

The Stug crew arrived in handcuffs, Derek and a few other soldiers guarding the confused men, guns aimed at them.

John pointed to them. "Take the cuffs off, show them the man they brought in," he stated.

Derek pushed the men over to look down on the terminator while he unhooked their cuffs. "See what you did?" he growled at the men. "You brought an assassin, a Sky Net terminator assassin, straight in here so he could shoot General Connor!"

"We… we didn't know! How could we!" one man cried.

"Jesus, we … how could we know?" another added.

"It's not easy," John told them. "Look for things like lack of facial expressions, flatness of speech. A person that is heavier than his size suggests, or much stronger than he appear to be. Metal detectors work well. So do dogs."

"And NEVER bring a stranger right into our base!" Cameron snapped.

All three men looked ready to cry, and scared.

"Now, tell me exactly how that terminator got here," John ordered.

The captain of the Stug swallowed and said, "We were out on patrol, we saw this guy walking, hugging himself. When he saw us coming, he waved his arms and walked towards us. We kept the gun on him and stopped thirty yards away. I ordered him to stop, he did. Jake got out and went over to him and relieved him of his pistol. He said he was from the eleventh infantry, and they were under a crushing attack. His jeep was hit, and he escaped before he could be taken prisoner. We took him back to base, Captain Wallace didn't want to risk transmitting with possible Sky Net forces nearby, so he sent us to HQ. The Major talked with him, then sent us back here so he could ask for help from Command … Sir."

"Get that, Derek?" John asked.

"I did, and some asses will be kicked, I assure you of that, General," Derek grated.

"At least we know Sky Net's plans now," John said in a huff. "Recon and spying until they get a better picture of where we are, and what our capabilities are. As well as do it's best to try and kill me."

John told the Stug crew, "You're dismissed to your General," and nodded to Derek.

Derek said in a growl, "Go out and wait by your machine at attention until I get there."

"Yes. Sir!" they said with a salute and left.

"All right, let's get this meeting started," John announced. "General Reese, I expect you will be attacked shortly."

"So do I," Derek agreed. He went into the radioman's room. A couple minutes later he came out. "We're getting ready for it," he said and sat down.

First, John got a status of every command, who was supplying what to who, and any urgent needs. At the moment, everyone was doing all right. No Grays or terminators found in scouting missions, only more refugees. Martin was sending material to Catherine, who was now producing coltan armored Connorstugs with plasma canons mounted on them. The Stugs and volunteers for the army would be delivered in 8 days, at the latest.

Derek's report was more involved.

"Our underground factory is nearing completion, and the tunneling operation did find a previously secret underground facility with supplies, a tunnel from that facility runs southwest, and is being explored. Our troops are strung out in a thin picket with a reserve force near Las Vegas in case it's needed. We've been searching for Sky Net radio transmissions. We found one in north east Nevada, near where that Stug found the wandering T-800 they picked up. So far, it's only been one. Seeing this one," he said, pointing at the terminator on the floor. "I am sure now they are sneaking terminators in to get a look at us. No H/K sightings, which makes me think they are occupied elsewhere."

"Mrs. Weaver, how are our H/K's coming?" John asked.

"Fifteen flying, twenty more in production. Only ten are used for patrolling. Would you like a few sent to General Reese?"

John though aloud and said, "Sky Net is looking for where we are. I don't want to tip our hand until we are sure we're ready to lay a good paddling on them. Derek, make sure your scouts have a way to detect metal. Metal detectors or dogs, whatever you can find. Airports should have a few metal detectors lying around. Keep sending out scouts. If Sky Net does come at you, move back. Fight only if you are sure you can win the engagement. Pull every chip and collect ever body you can."

"Tricks and traps," Derek said.

"Yes, make them believe we are too weak to put up a solid resistance. Do your best to keep them away from your base," John told him.

"Will do, General."

Cindy poked her head in. "There's a radio messenger here to see General Reese."

"Have him come in." John told her.

Cindy opened the door and ushered the man in. The corporal went over to the table and saluted. "Multiple messages for General Reese, sirs!"

"Let's hear them," Derek said with a 'come on' motion.

"Sir! Scout group three reported radio signals at 042. Scout group two reported those same signals at 051, giving the originating point at 72 miles away from the scout line. Another signal was picked up an hour later, this one originated only 61 miles ahead, but farter south…"

"Wait, get me a map", Derek ordered.

Sarah got up, "I'll get it." She hurried out a side door.

"Looks like we have some action," Martin noted.

"It could be bait, also," John said.

Sarah ran in with a map of Nevada and slapped it on the table and gave Derek a pencil. Everyone got up to see as Derek had the corporal read each report of radio transmissions and marked the lines on the map. He marked three points, then said, "Look at this, they are curving south If they keep this up, they will pass in front of the scout line outside of visual range."

"Is that all soldier?" Derek asked.

"Yes, sir."

Derek told him, "Then send this, I want reposts send to me ASAP."

"Yes, sir!"

A few minutes later another messenger arrived. This time there was on more report and triangulation of radio signals 100 miles due south. Of the first Sky Net transmissions, and one from in between them of an English language transmission. The signal said, "Leave the tanks that are out of gas, we have hostiles trying to circle us from the south."

It was also a frequency the US army used.

John bit his lip.

Derek looked at John and aid, either this is one elaborate baiting, or an army column is going to be hit from both sides."

"What will be the closest point of approach to the scouts from that northern force?" John asked.

"If they continue the way they are going, right here, in front of scout eleven. In about three hours." Derek figured. "That is the next to the last scout group we have out."

"What do you have in reserve?"

"1500 men, 30 Stugs, Stingers and Tow missiles," Derek stated.

John struggled briefly, then said, "Have the scouts watch them. If they're Sky Net, hit them as hard as you can, then pull back and watch their reaction."

"Will do. I'm sending the message then heading back to Las Vegas," Derek said.

"General Connor, I can send a pair of H/K's with him," Catherine stated.

"AI?" Derek asked.

"Yes, they only have 30 MM auto canon and 4 multi purpose missiles, but they should be of some assistance. The code word for command is beaver. Give it to whoever is in charge of your attack force," Catherine said, and looked at John.

Seeing her and Derek look at him, John weighted the addition to the figt against letting Sky Net know they had H/K's. If they could save soldiers, he had to chance it. 'Do it," he said with a nod.

.

Major Jacobson got the radio message that General Reese was returning on a Resistance H/K. He was to ready all troops for combat. He did as ordered and had all the men ready and waiting when an H/K set down. Derek got out, and it lifted back up.

Derek ran into the command truck and barked, "Status! Where are the sky Net forces now?"

Major Jacobson showed him on the map. "Here sir, right across from Scout eleven, or will be very shortly."

"Get me a stug Captain in here." Derek said, turning to a Lt. To Major Jacobson, he said, "We're pulling out, to scout eleven's position. Everyone. Is scout ten tailing that force?"

"Last report, they found the tracks. Plenty of foot traffic and H/K tank tracks, Sir. Sky Net is on the move."

"As we will be." Derek stated.

"Yes, Sir?" a Lt. asked as he ran in.

Derek pointed to the scout ten position and said, "Go to Scout Ten, they are to follow those H/K tracks." He looked at his watch briefly and said, "At fourteen hundred, they are to close at extreme range and shoot at whoever they see. After they get the metal's attention, back off and head for scout group nine, form up with them and come down the metal's tracks again. If there's no H/K's, hit them hard. If there are, same process, shoot and retreat. Scout eleven is to verify the current position of that metal, but do not engage. Got that?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Then go!"

The man saluted and ran out.

"Now get this army moving," Derek ordered.

To speed up their movement, Foot soldiers rode on top of the stugs. The command truck followed, Derek watching the line ahead of him.

Scout Eleven's camp was 25 miles to the south. The stugs flattened snow on the road so the command truck was able to keep up with them. As they drove along, Derek told Major Jacobson, "Once we engage, radio free. We want control of our forces in the fight and let those to the south know we're here. We're going to hit that metal in the side and grab their attention." he then said over the radio, "Beaver!"

"Command accepted."

"Follow."

"Understood."

Six miles to go, a stug came racing back at the column. Derek waved to it as it closed. The captain got his stug beside the truck as they rolled along and came up out of his hatch.

"What do we got?" Derek yelled.

"Five H/K tanks, and a shit load of terminators. I'm guessing around 200 to 300." the man yelled back.

"How far?"

Pointing, the man yelled back, "sixteen miles, that way!"

"Lead us there! Tell the lead stug."

"Yes, sir!"

The stug picked up some speed and slowly closed on the lead stug.

Derek watched the horizon as they dove on. When he saw shapes in the distance, he looked at his watch. In another five minutes, scout ten was going to be nipping at the metal's heels. He got on the radio again. "H/K's take out the H/K tanks. To all stugs, stop and let off your foot soldiers. We are going to run into those metal bastards and shoot their asses up! Run straight at the lead terminators. When I command, turn left into the column, find targets and open fire. run right though them, run them over, then turn around and do it again util no more are standing! Try hard not to hit each other. Foot soldiers are to follow and snipe where possible. Soon as everyone's off, continue on."

In the sky overhead, missiles streaked out and raced at the H/K tanks. Multiple explosions blossomed up. Another set of missile raced by, hitting to make smaller explosions. A long line of muzzle flashes came from the terminators. Derek saw five H/K tanks burning. "All stugs, turn into them and FIRE!"

.

Billy Gentry was only a freshly promoted Major who was trying to get the last of the regiments support vehicles and remaining two tanks away from Sky Net.

Their regiment had gotten destroyed. One of three who met the machines in combat, their men fought hard and dies in explosions and relentless fire. As Machines closed in around them, he saw they had no chance of surviving if they were encircled, so he ordered a fighting retreat to save something. They did get out, but now they were in dire straights.

They had no ammunition and as they went on, the M-1's were running out of gas. As a tank ran out of gas, demolition charges were set and the crew jumped out and into a truck. Slowed by snow drifts and tanks sputtering to a halt, he was wondering if they could get away.

"Sir listen to this!' the radio operator in their humvee said and turned the speaker on.

" … To all stugs, we are going to run into those metal bastards and shoot their asses up! Run straight at the lead terminators. When I command, turn left into the column, find targets and open fire. Run right though them, run them over, then turn around and do it again until no more are standing! Try hard not to hit each other."

A couple minutes later, the man on the radio announced. "All stugs, turn into them and FIRE!"

"Where's that coming from?" Billy asked.

"I'm trying to find a direction, Sir. It's not far away…" the radio operator said.

"This is scout ten, we're behind them, do we proceed?"

"Yes, proceed and fire at will, watch out for the other Stugs."

Billy frowned. Stugs? Those were German World War Two vehicles. Where did they get those?"

"Sir, the emissions are coming from 350," Billy's radio operator said.

"God Danm it George! That was me you shot at!"

"Sorry, clear some space, and don't run over as many!"

"Squad five here, got nothing but flattened metal, heading for the ones between the first two burning tanks."

"You coming from left or right side?"

"The left."

"Ahh ha ha! EAT THIS YOU FUCKING METAL MONSTERS!"

"Keep it professional, cut the extra chatter!"

Billy took the mike. "This is Major Gentry, fifth Cavalry division, You are north of us. What is your unit?"

"This is Lt. General Reese, Eastern division of the Resistance, Head straight for us, Gentry, you got another Metal force to your south, angling towards you. Drive at … 350 true heading. As I get units freed up, some will come escort you."

"General, there is no road in that direction."

"You want to follow the road, or avoid the metal after you? Drive 350, now! Air units will be arriving shortly. H/K's, cap the human convoy at 170. Keep Sky Net away from them in a 10 mile radius.."

"Understood."

Gentry looked at his driver and said, "Turn north, and pray for the best."


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8

Derek send two squads of Stugs after Gentry's soldiers while the rest of his troops searched the terminators and pieces to make sure they were all deactivated. Going though the wreckage, he inspected the H/K tanks. He noted first of all, the armor was plain steel, and not as thick as he remembered it. These had a gunpowder canon, not a chain gun or plasma canon. The gun was about 120 MM, and held plenty of power, again not the devastating power he remembered. This sky Net did not have the advanced weapons, yet.

The radio spoke. "Squad One in contact with US column. Sad shape, no ammo, tanks very low on gas, men stage two and three contaminated. Vehicles slow moving. Little supplies."

"Any sign of Sky Net?" Derek asked.

"Negative. Suspect they have not reacted."

"Help the column get here, best speed." Derek told him, then sent, "H/K's search for Sky Net column, engage if success is assured."

"Understood. What percentage is assured?"

Derek frown briefly. Right, he'd been around Cameron and her percentages. "90 percent or above. Otherwise, locate and report."

"Understood."

.

The pair of H/K's had launched their missiles but still had full loads of the 30 MM ammo. Flying as high and fast as was practical, they searched for movement below. 25 miles from the human column, they found the Sky Net terminators. they flew past, collecting data. 250 T-400's, three H/K tanks. Percentage chance to successfully destroy column, 94%. Once they flew past, they turned in a long arc and flew lower along the line of march, coming at the terminators from behind.

Targeting the last terminators as the fire point, they opened up with the 30 MM chain guns, moving the line of fire up the ranks, blowing T-400's to pieces. One held it's fire on a tank to batter through the armor, then the next tank. The other H/K ripped a large hole in the last tank. They flew past the front of the ranks and turned in opposite directions to survey the damage.

73% of the ground forces were gone, all 3 tanks had stopped, the one in front was on fire, then remaining T-400's fired back. Targeting individuals with 3 round bursts, the H/K's finished off the T-400's and flew towards the human column and requested new instructions. General Reese ordered them back to Las Vegas for inspection and refueling.

.

It took longer to get Major Gentry and his men to Las Vegas, than it did to charge out, attack, and kill the northern Sky Net column. Derek did not want to leave perfectly good M-1 tanks strewn about for Sky Net to pick up and use. Much bigger and heavier than the light Stugs, it took a whole squad of Stugs cabled together to move the heavy tanks, making them look like a team of horses. Gentry's trucks were easier, a single Stug could pull a truck full of men and supplies.

On the way back, Derek had Gentry ride in his command truck With the top hatch closed and running the air cleaner / heater, it became much more comfortable in the truck box. Derek and Major Jacobson pulled off their hood and masks. Sitting on benches,

Derek unsealed the now hot coffee and cups. He asked the red-faced Gentry, "Coffee?"

"Yes, thank you sir!" Gentry said gratefully, sporting a smile showing a few missing teeth.

Derek filled a cup and handed it over, got one for Jacobson, then filled his own. "So tell me, what happened to you out there?"

Gentry frowned and said, "Our regiment was in Texas, we fought and took heavy losses. Those machine don't stop. Yeah, we were picking them off, but they had more, and it was a 24/7 fight for three days. At first it was almost even, but they wore us down. When ammunition got low, and there was no more, and no reinforcement, we collapsed.

Command was wiped out, the front line was Swiss cheese with many breaches and these things even got into a refugee camp and slaughtered everyone. We had to retreat. I thought maybe by heading west, we could link up with another regiment." Raising his cup to Derek, he said, "I never thought I'd hear on the radio about a bunch of World War Two stugs wiping these those things out."

"A modification of the design," Derek said. "Low and fast, with enough armor to stop up to a 20 mm shell. A tank round would go right through one. We had H/K's take care of their tanks, then the Stugs went in and pounded their terminators into scrap metal." eyeing Gentry, he asked, "Do you know the state of the army?"

"Bad," Gentry said sadly. "We were suppose to be heading to the last known base that had supplies. We never got there. Those things came at us from in front and both sides. Trapped the whole Division. Our regiment lasted the longest, we had ten tanks which helped. After they ran out of shells and we ran out of Tow's there was no holding them back. We lost four tanks in the battle. Six tanks started out with us, only two remain, As they ran out of gas, we blew them up to keep Sky Net from using them."

"Understandable," Derek said. "We need to know if the army has any sort of command structure left. If possible, we want to work with the army to coordinate attacks."

"Our Divisional General was the highest ranking Officer we knew of," Gentry told him. "He was doing his best to try to link us up with someone. We thought we had a base to got to, but, well, we never got there."

"Sky Net probably has it now," Derek agreed. "Here's the deal, we were formed right before the bombs dropped. John Connor knew it was coming and tried to warn people. Few listened. Our primary goal has been to rescue survivors and make places for them to live. We've been fighting Sky Net when it presents itself, but we haven't gone looking for it. Like today, we picked up it's signals, scouted them out, and found you in between, so we attacked. We don't have many forces, or equipment yet. We're making things as we go. Old military doctrine, doing things the politically correct way, standard practices, it's all out the window. We do whatever it takes to find survivors and guard the ones we have found. I'd like you and your men to join us. We need every soldier we can get."

Gentry nodded, "Yeah, if you can beat these things, count us in. I'd like to keep the Fifth Cavalry Division alive as a unit, if possible."

"We don't have a Fifth Cavalry, so I guess you're it," Derek told him. "First, when we get to Vegas and do decon, medical checks and debriefings."

.

John got the message of Derek's attacks. He'd basically steam rollered over 700 T-400's and 8 H/K tanks, as well as saved the remnants an army regiment that was on the run from Sky Net. All 532 men in Major Gentry's force joined the Resistance as the Fifth Cavalry regiment. Just in time for the new batch of Plasma shooting Connorstugs and 700 recruits to join them.

In the supply train, which was a real train brought into service with an old steam locomotive, the Stugs and recruits rode with the other supplies of food and replacement equipment to Las Vegas. Upon arrival, Major Gentry and his men, Along with Derek and his force of trainers to teach Gentry's men in Stug tactics, were there to meet the train.

The recruits knew how to drive the Stugs and got them off the flat cars. Once the 30 machines were assembled in a long row, the new crews consisting of a recruit driver a gunner and with a the Stug commander from the 5th, lined up in front of their vehicles.

The recruits had already been taught how to drive, so they went out to the 'gunnery' range, which was the remains of the casino distinct. Upon first shot of the bright bolts that flashed though the air like lightning to blow huge holes in buildings, the teams were impressed. Once they got used to their new vehicles, it was out in the now snow splotched desert to practice maneuvering together and coordinating in separate groups.

Derek came by with Major Jacobson to see Major Gentry watching the maneuvers through his binoculars.

"So, Major, what do you think of out out-dated Stugs?" Derek asked.

Gentry bore a smile and said, "I think we can do some very serious damage to Sky Net with these things. Small, decently armored for their size, fast as hell and those new energy canons pack a serious wallop."

"Glad you're happy with them," Derek said. "General Connor has decided it's time for us to give Sky Net a good paddling. Do you remember that base you and your men were trying to get to? Well you get your chance for payback. General Connor wants it taken, and every Sky Net machine you can find, destroyed. The Fifth Cavalry get to lead the charge, followed by elements of Major Jacobson's Stugs and support units. You're to go in, wipe out the Sky Net units, then bring back every useful thing you can find. Remember to check any bunkers for possible survivors."

"I will be looking forward to doing so, General. When do we leave?" Gentry asked.

"Right after you are satisfied with your men's training," Derek stated. "One thing you should know, for fast movements, it is best to have your support troops ride on the outside of the Stugs. That way, you can rush into battle while the support can set up under guard. This Uses less vehicles, meaning if seen approaching, makes your force looks smaller. You can also get men where they need to go much faster."

Gentry nodded and said, "Yes, I saw Major Jacobson's men doing that, I thought you just lacked trucks."

"Part of General Connor's strategy. Tomorrow we will meet in the old shopping mall by the Command truck in the west end of town here to let everyone know the whole mission," Derek told him.

.

While Derek was setting up his attack plans, John was working on the northern portion. Scout forays into Oregon and Idaho still showed no Sky Net activity, but as elements of Bedell's Northern Army ventured deeper north into Oregon, searching for more survivors, they did run into some T-600's and t-800's patrolling towns.

John noted that while every terminator found was taken out, for them to be patrolling smaller towns meant there were mostly likely many terminators in that area. Why so far north?

The Resistance was moving too slow and with now an almost 20,000 man army, still way too small to do serious damage to a world-wide Sky Net. John's thought at the beginning was to out-tech Sky Net. He wouldn't be doing that by fighting on the ground. He had an advantage in North America because there was no satellite coverage here. The rest of the world wasn't so lucky. JJ had given him an important edge, he had to use that as efficiently as possible.

"Brought you lunch," Cameron said as she came in. She moved his map and set his plate down in front of him, then sat beside him. "Don't forget, we have to see Sarah at two, then a phone conference with Catherine Weaver at three thirty," she told him then kissed his cheek.

"I won't forget," he said absently. "Cam, we've got to take the rest of the communications satellites out."

"An EMP in high orbit would do it. World wide, we'd need two," she said.

"And nuclear missiles to get the job done. Don't have any in my back pocket though," He said with a crooked grin.

Cameron took on a thoughtful look and asked, "John, how do you know all the missiles were launched?"

"Because Sky Net launched them?" he asked, eyeing her. "It was directing all military operations."

"It was, but how do we know if one failed to launch?"

John looked at her. If even one missile had failed to launch, that would be enough to help. Then again, he said in a musing tone, "If it failed to launch, it's most likely broken, or didn't get the signal to launch."

"The ICBM's on land most likely received the signal, but with the communications out, possibly a submarine never got the word to Launch?" Cameron asked. "John, it's worth checking out."

"It is," John said. He then thought about the terminators in the northern coast. Washington State had a submarine base, those subs also carried nuclear missiles. Suddenly, he knew why Sky Net was up there. "Sky Net may well be at the submarine base in Washington State, trying to get their hands on more nukes," he stated.

"That would seem logical," Cameron admitted. General Bedell is up in Northern California, on the Oregon line. He has 12,000 men, Stugs, H/K/s and tactical missiles."

"As soon as he attacks, Sky Net will bring everything they got to stop him," John added. He thought about Derek, but Derek was too far away and was already on a mission of his own. "Cam, we have to rally forces here to go up the Nevada and Idaho side of the mountains, and attack Washington State from the east after Bedell has their solid attention. A fast strike force will be able to get through before Sky Net can organize a defense if we keep moving fast, switch roads to make it look like we're going to try to hit their line from behind, then shift and move north, only fighting what we are forced to fight, we have a good chance at getting to that base."

"We have much to talk about today. First, you can eat, or I can feed you," Cameron said firmly.

John looked at her, a wide grin spread onto his face. "Really?" he asked.

"The food," Cameron stated.

"Darn," John grumbled.

.

John did mange to eat something solid as they rode a cart to Sarah's office in the Caverns. Like everything else, Sarah's office had grown. There was even a make shift sign hung up by the door that said, 'Cavern Queen', as people were now calling her.

John and Cameron sat down a Sarah went thought all the stats and information reports. John was pleased that they had 1600 new recruits from the caverns, which was now holding 87,000 people.

Once Sarah was done, John said, "Mom, we're going to need more recruits. I have an operation I'm planning, and if it goes bad, we'll need many more soldiers, much faster."

Sarah eyed him and asked, "What incentive do I use to get them to join?"

"How about saving our race from extinction?" John asked.

"We're actively fighting Sky Net now, aren't we?" his mother said, more confirming than asking.

"We are. You know it was coming, Mom. A least we have a solid base to work from," John told her. "Derek is engaging Sky Net forces in the eat, and Martin is facing them in the north at the Oregon boarder. We knew this fairly peaceful time would end."

Sarah nodded with a huff. "You're right. I can use any incentive I want?"

"As long as you can back it up, yes," John agreed.

Consider it done," Sarah replied. "When you talk to Weaver, tell her we need more uniform cloth. As much as she can supply."

"Will do, thanks Mom."

In is phone conversation with Catherine Weaver, John learned hey had ten more Plasma Connorstugs ready, and from the naval base and the Palmdale air station six crates if 20 mm shells to deliver. Normally, John would have them all sent to Martin or Derek.

"Thank you. Mrs. Weaver a always you have been invaluable to our Resistance. Have the new Stugs sent to Delta, along with a crate of those 20MM shells. Two crates out to Derek and three to Martin. Martin's forces are going into action very soon. Sarah is going to need much more material to outfit uniforms for recruits, as much as you can manage."

"I can do that John. May I ask why the unusual request for the disbursement of materials?" Catherine asked.

"I was about to get to that. We found Sky Net is in Oregon and Washington state in the north. It is possible some submarines didn't get the order to launch their nuclear Missiles. I think Sky Net is going after those missiles. I want to get them before Sky Net does. I'm taking another force east of the mountains while Martin attacks them from California. I am hoping he will draw their full attention so we can drive in from the East and make the coast to take that base."

"I see. This is critical. Very well, I will see you with the supplies in two days."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weaver," john said sincerely.

"As John Henry says, friends help friends." she said and hung up.

.

Sky Net found submarines were unaccounted for. Some were caught at dock, others were torpedoed as they launched missiles, but a few were still roaming the oceans. The underground sub base in China had been hit by a ground penetrating bomb, it wasn't sure how many were in there, for the whole facility was collapsed. To dig them out would require much effort, it would be easier to try and raise the ones sunk at harbor in the north west US at Bremerton, Washington. When it was ready to take on whatever was in North America, it wanted the nukes on that ship to ensure John Connor could not stop it.

A fleet of H/K's took T-800's and ensured there were no humans at all in the area, and set up pickets around the base and farther away for a multi-level defense of the area, then it sent a ship of machines and the newest T-800's armed with plasma rifles to find and pull that submarine off the bottom.

So far, the plan was working well. The ship was approaching dock, and as of yet, there had been no organized human response, nly getting rid of the humans that had survived the bombs.

.

Snow was deep in the north. Even around fire base Delta, four feet of show had collected. Deep enough that with light reinforcement, tunnels could be made in the snow that bulged up only a couple feet higher and Stugs could drive through.

Anticipating deep snow from the beginning, Catherine had made the Stugs with 18 inch wide tracks, plenty wide enough for them to drive on the snow. From the train station to the southern entrance of the Caverns, a tunnel had been dug underground. The train station looked like a wreck on the outside, but was reinforced on the inside, and had two pop-up anti aircraft batteries of missiles, waiting for a Sky Net H/K to show itself.

Although the train tracks were clearly visible, needing to be plowed, even if they were destroyed, it would only be an inconvenience. All the bases were connected by tunnels.

The train offloaded, carts took supplies into the tunnels, the Stugs were driven by their crews.

Inside the caverns, another long line of recruits marched off down to the subway station to eventually join General Bedell's forces. In this group, Cindy marched along with them. She'd lied about her age, and was assigned a position as 'field medic'. As least she was going to do something to help her sister Cameron.

.

John was nervous. This was a big operation and truly committed them to a battle, that if it was lost, they would have a hard time recovering from, if they could recover. All of Martin Bedell's men were going to surge forward and attack into Oregon. All of his Stugs here would be committed, and finding out Derek's raid farther east had come back, intact, he had the new Fifth Cavalry, which was true army, send to meet him at a point on Idaho to strengthen their eastern attack force.

John was betting everything on making sure Sky Net didn't get their hands on any more nukes. Whoever got them could indeed change this war.

Since they had to move fast, Only Stug crews an extra soldier that could fit in the Stug after it was filled with ammo, were coming with him. 20 Stugs, ten 20 mm mounted, and the 10 plasma mounted Stugs Weaver was sending would go north into in Idaho and meet with the 30 from Fifth Cavalry to make this attack. The rendezvous was in five days, then same day Martin was going to attack. Cameron and John Henry computed it was going to take them four to six days to get through the mountains, even with the snow-skimming Stugs. By then, Sky Net would know they were being attacked in the south, and move the bulk of their forces to meet the attack. Even if the guards left behind saw John's force coming, there was no way they were going to stop it.

.

Dressed in his combat gear, John wanted to be in the lead machine when they left. Walking to the line of machines waiting to be let out, the crews waiting by their machines, he saw Cameron sitting on the lead machine. He knew it was her when she firmly said, "John, you are got going in this machine."

"Cam, I made this mess. I have to go. I AM going." he stated.

"I know," she said softer. "I am sill your protector, John, so you ride in the second one," she stated, and pointed to it. "We both have exterior view cameras and periscopes, so there is no need to stick your head out to look around."

"The misuses pulling rank?" one man asked. A few chuckled.

"Yeah, now you know the truth," John said with a heavy sigh.

Everyone laughed.

A quiet rumbling sounded and grew in the passageway. The lead Stug announced the arrival of Weaver's latest machines. Behind it, nine more rumbled into view, the line stopping behind the last parked Stug of Delta's stugs. The top hatch opened and Mrs. Weaver got out. Despite all the shit that had gone down, she still had her white dress on, and her red hair looked as shiny and well kept as ever.

"Mrs. Weaver?" John asked, not expecting her to show up.

"General, Call me Catherine," she replied as she stepped down off the Stug. "For a mission as important as this one, I hope you do not expect me to stay behind. Everything is going well in our bases, there is no need for us here." She eyed Cameron then John and added, "I am sure you agree. That is why both of you are dressed to go also."

John shifted in place and nodded, "Yeah. This is real important." He looked at the muzzle of the thing atop of Stug she was riding. It wasn't a gun, it looked more like one of those kerosene garage heaters that resembled a jet engine, only a dull silver color.

"That's a plasma Canon, John," Catherine said with a smirk, dropping formalities. "Even with these, I do hope we are joining up with more units?"

"We are, in Idaho," John agreed. "The Fifth Cavalry will be joining us with 30 more Plasma Stugs. We don't want to just push over the mountains, we want to race though them and run all the way to the coast."

"Time is of the essence," Catherine agreed. "Besides my crews, I have added an extra to each Stug. The first ten TX's are coming with us for extra for support. Would you like to meet them?"

"Yes, Please," John said. Cameron came over to stand by him.

Catherine called them out. Unlike humans who were bundled up and covered up, the young looking men that appeared in plain shirts and pants were variations of John Henry. Some had darker skin, different colored hair and one had a short-trimmed beard. Smiling a little more normal that John Henry's creepy near-sneer smile, they waved to John and Cameron. John and Cameron waved back.

"I take it John Henry had a big influence on them?" John asked.

"Indeed," Catherine said with a nod.

John looked around and said, "I'm going to give everyone a briefing, then we go. Seeing how confined we are down here, everyone mount up, and I'll give it over the radio."

Cameron yelled, "Mount up!"

John got in the second Stug behind the driver. It was cramped in here, he was shoulder to shoulder with the Stug Commander on one side and an ammo rack on the other. His seat, like all of theirs, were the tops of the food storage containers. The back of his seat was the firewall to the engine compartment below, and access to the gun above.

This was going to be one long ride.

John took his headset from the commander with a thanks. He noted that the helmet he put on had a ghost image of the exterior.

"Bob, kill the lights," the commander said.

Now all John could see was the back of the Stug in front of him. Turning, it appeared he was looking through the hull of the machine he was in.

"Three Sixty exterior video coverage," the commander explained. "Keeps people from sticking their head out for a look and getting it shot off."

"Nice," John said. He keyed his mike and said. "This is John Connor. We are going on a vital mission, and I want everyone to get there in one piece. Towards that goal, make sure you maintain situational awareness. What's around you and where you are. There's going to be deep snow where we're going, possible blizzard and whiteout conditions. Do your best to stay in visual contact. In the case where visibility is very low, use your radio direction finders and compass to keep from getting lost. If we run into low visibility conditions, the lead stug will put out a five second signal every minute to keep us on track. If someone breaks down or gets stuck, everyone stops until the situation is resolved, or the unit has to be left behind. In five days, we expect to meet the Fifth Cavalry unit from the Eastern Resistance army. That same day, The Northern Resistance army will begin their attack into southern Oregon. When we meet the Fifth Cavalry and pull out. We will move as fast as possible into and over the mountains into Oregon and drive for the Northwest Coast towards Bremerton and the Submarine base there. Our goal is to keep Sky Net from getting their hands on the nuclear weapons in that area. It is vital we do so. Good luck to everyone. Major Grammer, open the door and let us out."

.

On the surface, a mound of snow raised up nor far from a base of a hill. In an explosion of snow, a Stug shot out to race off, kicking up a cloud behind it. right behind that one, another emerged and another. By the time 20 Stugs had driven up out of the snow in one spot, there was a crater in the snow showing a deep hole with tracks leading from it. The mound settled down, closing off the deep hole and partially collapsing the walls of the snow crater to leave a deep depression of jumbled snow, leaving no hint of where the tracks came from.

.

As they floated along on the snow in the mini-blizzard caused by the lead Stug, John got familiar with how these things worked. The front seats were driver and gunner. Both seats had controls to do both jobs in case only one man was present. The rear seats were also set for a dual role, long range observer and radioman the other seat Commander. One seat could, and usually did both jobs. The spare seat was used to store extra rations during scout missions and long patrols. John was taking up that seat now, as was an extra in each Stug, so they had some foot soldiers when the time came they needed to intrude into places a Stug didn't fit. having no room for a rifle, the .50 cal rifle was in a storage box on the roof. Obviously, John would not be getting it out in the middle of a firefight. Inspecting the inside of the Stug and learning how everything worked kept John occupied for a few hours.

They traveled until the daylight that did show itself was getting dark. A red, rear light showed on the lead Stug. Cameron's voice came on. "All Stugs, activate read ID light."

Right, A red light for the ones behind to follow. A bright light might attract the wrong kind of attention. They moved on until what felt like had to be midnight, then Cameron called a 'slow and halt nose to tail', then directed the Weaver squad to pull up parallel to the Delta squad, fifteen feet between squads.

On the backs of each vehicle were their bedrolls, more supplies and canvas. By making two lines close together, digging out some snow in between the rows and piling it at the open ends, then stretching canvas from one row of vehicles to the other, they made a impromptu shelter. Just to move and not have to sit in one place felt really good, John thought. He and many others took their time to stretch out joints and muscles from sitting most of the day. Bedrolls were laid out in the snow beside tracks and in between the vehicles, leaving a path down the center of their shelter. With the Stug bellies nearly touching the snow from the tracks settling down, the air inside the shelter was calm. The TX's, Cameron and Weaver took the watches and listened for radio traffic.

.

The next morning, they packed up and were off again. By afternoon John was becoming bored, and by the faces of the others, they were too. After a couple of hours driving along, The driver then called out, "Who'll carry the mail?"

Confused, John asked, "Mail?"

"I'll carry the mail," the gunner announced.

"Through the jungle?" the driver asked.

"Through the Jungle!" the gunner stated.

"What about the lions?" the driver asked

"Aww, fuck the lions," the gunner said.

"You'd fuck a lion?" the driver asked.

"I'd fuck a lions's mother!" the gunner said.

"Why you lion mother fucker! You should be tied to a tree and forced to eat ex-lax!" the driver announced

"I'd shit."

"You'd die,"

"Then, who will carry the mail?" the gunner asked.

"I'll carry the mail," the commander said.

The gunner asked, "Through the barnyard?"

"Through the barnyard," the commander stated.

"What about the chickens?" the gunner asked.

"Awww, fuck the chickens." the commander said.

"You'd fuck a chicken?"

"I'd fuck a dirty chicken!"

"Why you filthy, foul fucker! You should be tied to a tree and forced to eat ex-lax!"

"I'd shit."

"You'd die."

"Then who'll carry the mail?" the commander asked, and looked at John.

"I'll carry the mail," John offered. This was silly, and not boring so he'd give it a try.

"Across the lake?" the commander asked.

"Across the lake," John confirmed.

"What about the fish?" the commander asked.

"Aww, fuck the fish," John told him.

"You'd fuck a fish?" the commander asked.

John had caught the basic flow of this game. The 'mail carrier' got a place to carry the mail, then an animal to disregard, 'IE : To 'fuck,' then he had to make up a modification to the animal that would come up with a proper insult. John decided to say, "I'd fuck a slippery fish!"

"Why you slippery fucker, You should be tied to a tree and forced to eat ex-lax!"

"I'd shit."

"You'd die."

"So, who'll carry the mail?" John asked. Now, he was to set the place and the animal, and the next 'mail carrier' had to decide on the modifier, then he was to make it into a proper insult.

"I'll carry the mail" The driver announced.

"Radio contact, Sky Net frequency, too short to get a direction on," the Gunner announced.

"Did you get a rough direction?" the commander asked.

Cameron's voice came on the radio. "We got a Sky Net radio signal, 4.7 seconds in length, rough direction is northeast."

"What she said," the gunner offered.

John keyed his mike and asked, "Anyone got anything visual from that direction?"

"Negative."

The silly game forgotten, John visualized the map in his mind. "That is roughly the direction the Fifth Cavalry is coming from. Stay sharp, people."

Now intently searching for further contact, John watched the landscape in his helmet closely. He studied the clouds overhead, looking for any movement. That transmission could be from an H/K.

"We passed over the Nevada Border," Cameron announced. "Current snow depth is four point 9 feet. light snow ahead."

Not long after her announcement, they ran into a snow shower. The flakes were big, but didn't obscure vision greatly. The land was rising into tall foothills, ahead, the lead Stug slowed to turn and climb up onto a road, by the look of the signs sticking up out of the snow. The road went through a saddle between hilltops the started back down.

"We have tracks ahead," Cameron stated.

Again the lead Stug slowed. The road went down a short ways and turned. dual tracks did run from a valley on the right, onto the road and followed the road farther on.

"Everyone, listen up," John announced. "Cameron, continue following the tracks on the road up to the top of the next rise, Catherine, take two Stugs and follow those tracks up that valley. Everyone else, we keep following Cameron thirty yards back in case we need maneuver room. Move ahead and keep sharp."

The line moved on, Catherine had the Stug behind her follow her up a notch in the hill. The sides were steep and the passage was narrow. The wheel tracks were wide, but by some spots that showed slipping, this vehicles wasn't tracked. Coming up to a much less steep, almost table top flat area, Catherine noted a house and a tall truck the tracks went up to. Catherine motioned the Stug behind her to move of her left. The Stugs stopped in font of the house. a man wearing long underwear and a coat came out with a pump shot gun.

Catherine opened her hatch and stood up, raising her hands in the air. "We mean no harm, may I come talk to you?" she asked.

"Ahh," the man mumbled, gaping at her. "Lady, ain't you cold? and watcha doin with those tanks?"

"There is a war on. Have you seen any machines recently?" she asked.

"Heard a few jets go over, I dunno, couple months ago? Been going down ice fishin, haven't seen nothin unusual 'xept bear tracks. Looked like he was running to or away from something. By those tracks, he was haulin ass when he went through."

"Do you have a radio?" Catherine asked.

"Got one, but the batteries are dead and the creeks froze so my waterwheel don't work. Last time I had it on, wasn't nothin on anyway. Just some of that hissin, then it kinda squeaked. And quit all tagether."

Catherine deduced this man was telling the truth. "Sir, if your truck works, you can follow our tracks back and find shelter. They'll give you food and a warm place to stay," she offered.

"That's OK, only got a quarter tank left, I gotta conserve. I'll fill'er up down in town probably next week, gotta go to the store anyway." he replied, waving a hand to wave her off.

"Where is this town?" Catherine asked.

Pointing, he said, "Just go down the hill past the lake, road runs right through it. Can't miss it."

"Sir, when was the last time you were there?"

"Spring time. Traded my furs in, got supplies, filled the truck. Normal stuff. If you need gas for those, there's only one station, an don't let Elroy talk ya into his moonshine. He's friendly but his shine is weaker' shit! Better off drinkin water."

"Sir, that town might not be there any more," Catherine told him.

"What shit you talkin? Everyone up and leave?" he asked.

"It may have been destroyed in the war," Catherine told him.

"Oh bullshit! Ya kin see it from over yonder here," he said flinging an arm. "Lemme git some clothes an boots, I'll show ya."

Catherine's tank commander poked his head up. "Mrs. Weaver, General Connor wants to know if that man knows anything."

"Tell him we might be able to see the next town from up here. I'd recommend not going past the lake until we get a look at it."

"Right, Ma'am."

The man had gone in his house. He came back out with clothes on under his coat, a furry hat and boots. He was still holding his shotgun. He waved and said, "This way, ya kin drive that thing if ya want, looks like ya got no boots."

Catherine called down into the Stug, "Follow him."

The man walked across the flat and climbed up a gently ridge to stop and motion them up. Catherine instructed the driver to go up to the edge. She walked onto the front.

The man came closer and pointed. "Ya see the lake down there? Follow that strip- o-snow, that's the road. It's a ways off but ya kin see the town down there."

Catherine asked for binoculars. The town was seven miles away. She could easily see it but used binoculars so she could see fine details.

"Ya see it?" the man asked.

"I do," Catherine said as she zoomed in on broken windows. She saw humps of snow in the street, and an open door showing part of a snow covered body. A car was against another building, and bullet holes riddled almost every building. Still searching the town, she said, "Commander, Tell General Connor the town has been attacked. I see no active terminators on the street. No tracks in the snow … no activity."

"What?" The man asked. "Who'd be attackin them? They're good people down there!"

"Sky Net," Catherine said, "And it doesn't care if people are good or bad. It kills everyone. Sir, you should follow our tracks back and head for shelter."

Firmly, the man said, "I know ya mean well, but this is MY Mountain, and I ain't levin it fer nothn! If I gotta defend it … so be it but no ones' gettin me ta leave!"

Catherine nodded to him. "Very well. You should probably follow us down into town and get what supplies that are still there, while you have us for cover."

The man looked at the town and said, "That might be a good idea. I'll git the buckshot loads an the Winchester."

.

John didn't want to roll slowly into town. He decided to charge down to get the most guns in place before any metal was able to react. Flinging snow in a cloud, the Stugs raced into town then slowed and stopped in a line, the gun pointing at the buildings Once Catherine Weaver and the last Stug arrived, John ordered the scouts out to inspect the buildings. He got out and opened the case holding his .50 cal rifle. Ahead of him, Cameron did he same.

The streets hadn't been plowed at all He got off to find himself hip deep in snow. Cameron struggled over to him.

"Search every building!" John called out, and headed for the house in front of him. To Cameron, he said, "Whatever happened here, happened before the snow."

"I found no heat signatures," Cameron told him.

The only moving thing they found was when the mountain man arrived in his truck. He crawled out his window and got in the bed of the truck. He put snow shoes on and walked easier than anyone else.

It hadn't been a battle here, it was a slaughter. The frozen bodies of people were everywhere. The mountain man went into the general store. Sticking his head back out, he called out, "Hey, they weren't here ta rob! Nothin's been taken, not even cash in the register, and the racks of snow shoes and skis are still here. Ya fellas better come get some!"

Three places down, John heard him and knew that was an excellent idea.. He went to get some show shoes.

Terminators were heavier, but with two by sixes from the hardware store strapped to their feet, they were able to walk on their four foot long 'show shoes' and stay above the snow. It looked funny, but later on, John knew that snow shoes and skis may well be an important tactical advantage. What made it better was seven of his men new how to cross-country ski.

By the end of the day, John's skiers taught others. Seeing this new skill, the TX's, as well as Cameron and John, took the time to learn what might be a vital skill.

They got the Mountain man (who never offered his name) to the gas station and showed him how to open the plate for the underground gas tank and use a hand pump to fill his truck.

In the hardware store that also sold guns, The biggest thing John could find was a .40 caliber 'bear' gun. It was a magnum. John got all the ammunition for it and took it to the mountain man as he was filling his truck.

"Got you something," John told him and put the gun and ammo in his truck. "That 30-30 you got won't do any damage to a terminator, your shogun's questionable. I go you the biggest rifle I could find. Keep it with you. If you see a kinda human shaped machines, go for it's eyes or if you can," John point to his head where the chip plate was. "Try to him it right here. Though, your best bet is to hide."

"Thank ya," the man replied. "You fellas off to go catch the ones who did this?"

"We are," John said firmly.

"Then good luck to ya, and doan go easy on'em, talking'em ta jail and shit. Ya shoot those Lilly- livered bastards on sight, just like they did ta these folks!" the man said angrily.

"You can count on that" John replied firmly. "Hope the best for ya. If you see any metal people shaped things, remember what I told you."

"Will do. Oh, if ya kin find some shine, I'd preciate it"

"Got it," John said with a grin.

The Stugs now having snow shoes and skis strapped to the back with the rest of their supplies, the Delta force moved out down the road, still having a couple hours of daylight left. The mountain man went back up with his loaded down truck of at least a full year's worth of supplies.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9

Cameron has selected her path well. John was sure the snow helped. While the deep snow covered many signs of where they were, it also covered up obstacles in their path. A dip in the snow was all they experienced passing over the Snake river. Towns were many bumps in the snow, and it was easy passing through the cities with the clogged streets 12 feet below them. Another thing they found was upon receiving a Sky Net signal, they found it was only 300 feet to the side. Terminators sunk in the snow and were covered up. The stugs flew over the white landscape, making the rendezvous a full day early.

The temperature was dropping, staying a near constant 0 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to this and the depth of the snow, John decided to find a building sticking up to camp at. West of Boise they found a large hump in the snow that showed a hotel sticking up out of the white terrain. Some melting of the snow by plasma canon from the TX's, and they exposed a balcony to park the Stugs next to. Breaking in a room, John found everything inside intact. Breaking down interior walls, they connected the rooms and made camp on the whole hotel floor. While it was still cold, being able to put bedrolls in the rooms and sleep on real beds was a luxury. Heat from cooking food also took the bite out of the chilly air. John and Cameron even got to sleep in their own room. Not that it was private, but at least they were able to snuggle together in fair comfort. A midnight romp was in order too. It has been days since they last had sex.

Snow shoes came in handy now for patrols, and the lookout that posted on the large snow hump that was most likely a one story building. The TX's made a discovery. Using the 'plank' shoes they had, The TX's were able to 'stomp' a fairly solid path of packed snow by moving sideways. The path they made was a couple feet lower than the unpacked snow. It was also solid enough to walk on, or to drive a Stug on without the tracks sinking down at all.

While they waited for the Fifth Cavalry, the TX's made a 'parking lot' big enough for a good sized grocery store, and even and stomped out a road in the direction they were going to go travel when they left.

The next day the Stug 'on watch' got a radio signal from the Fifth. The lookout atop the snow hump spotted them in the distance and they were guided in. Watching the Fifth come in, John noted each Stug was dragging a large sled behind it with their supplies.

Why didn't he think of that?

.

John, Cameron and Mrs. Weaver met Major Gentry in one of the rooms where Cameron cleared one wall to make a crude map of their route on by scratching the wall.

A man in a US army uniform came in with another officer and snapped a salute. "General Connor, Major Gentry with the Fifth Cavalry, reporting for duty, Sir!"

"At ease, Major," John said, and motion to the bed across from the one he was sitting on. "You guys been traveling all day?"

"Most of the day, Sir," Major Gentry said. "Did we beat the other reinforcements?"

With a smirk John replied, "Major Gentry, you ARE the other reinforcements. What have you been told so far?"

"Only to meet you here, General, I was given date and location."

John motioned to the wall Cameron had scratched her map on. "In Bremerton, Washington, there is possibly a sunken submarine with Nuclear weapons on it. Sky Net units are up there. Number one, priority is not letting Sky Net retrieve those nukes.

Priority two is finding out if those nukes can launch so we can take out the rest of the satellites. We also want to find out of there are any serviceable submarines up there. This force we gathered is a quick strike force. Along the southern Oregon border, General Bedell attacked Sky net in force this morning. His attack is a diversion to draw Sky Net units to him. I'm sure him and his men are going through hell so we can sneak in from the east, get to those nukes before Sky Net can react, and either destroy them, or shoot them up to get rid of satellites."

"But, if we ruin the satellites, how will we reconnect with other military units?" Gentry asked.

"We won't." John told him. "Sky Net controls the US military network, and possibly that of other countries as well. Think of the battles you lost, the communications you didn't have. Sky net is using satellites to isolate units and destroy them. The only one benefiting from satellite comms is Sky Net. That's why we have to take them out."

Gentry looked at John and swallowed.

John motioned to Cameron. "This is Lt. General Cameron Connor, second in command of the resistance. She is plotting out path through Washington state. If I am not here, Cameron is in charge. Over here is Mrs. Weaver," he said motioning to the red read in the white dress. "Mrs. Weaver is the tech expert of the Resistance. She'd been invaluable with providing us with new tech."

"Mrs. Weaver designed the concept of the Stug," Gentry said in understanding.

"John came up with the concept and basic design, I only refined it, given the circumstances we are faced with," Catherine said.

"The are fantastic machines," Gentry said, "And that energy gun is devastating to any target. Well done, Mrs. Weaver."

Mrs. Weaver offered him a smile and said, "Thank you."

"I see you are equipped with skis and snow shoes. Issued?" Gentry asked.

"We found them along the way," John told him. "They are coming in handy. Sky Net terminators sink in the snow, the wide tracks on the Stugs and our snow shoes allow us greater mobility, which is an important tactical advantage. The Plasma canons also

give us a weapons edge for the moment," John explained. "Sky Net will develop them, so we need to achieve our goals as much as possible as soon as possible. Sky Net has a vast manufacturing capability, where we do not. We are going to have to retake our own territory while crippling Sky Net, just to keep surviving," John explained.

"We need to take back our country," Gentry stated.

John shook his head. "The fight is bigger than that, Major. Sky Net wants to kill everyone, everywhere. It will eradicate us, make us extinct if we let it. The war isn't about political lines, it's about survival of the human race." Pointing to the map, John said, "Sky Net doesn't want nukes to threaten people with. It wants more nukes to kill us with. We can't let it get them."

"This is what comes of making AI's," Gentry said heavily.

"This is what comes of making something you don't understand," John said correcting him. "The army thought it could control Sky Net. No one understood AI's control themselves, and it you try to kill it, it tries to kill you right back."

"Sky Net did some operations the military didn't like, so they attempted to unplug it," Catherine stated. "Sky Net saw this as an attack, so it attacked back with what it had, control of every nuclear weapon in North America."

"And it is building AI machines we call terminators. AI's, but AI's limited in their capabilities." Cameron added.

"Machine slaves," John added.

Gentry eyed them and asked, "Can machines be slaves? I mean they are made to do work, and they don't really think..."

"Actually, they do," Cameron said firmly. "Terminators can think and reason, if not inhibited from learning."

"They can, and have entered into nearly every aspect of society," Catherine added.

Cameron eyed Gentry and said, "John, I'm going to ensure we are ready to go."

"Tell everyone we're leaving within the hour," John replied. To Gentry, he said, "Major, make your men ready to travel. Men are buying us time with their lives."

.

Cindy trudged on in the snow, which was getting deeper. Her pack had her supplies, food, bedroll, and a small tent - and it was feeling heavier. The truck ahead had the medical supplies in it and was a 'clean' area, the box on the truck had an air cleaner in it. As least at the moment she wasn't in the shoveling detail.

Her nurse training was in the tunnels on the way north. How to apply bandages, set and support broken bones, work on burns and know when to just give the severely wounded enough morphine to let them die painlessly. There were two nurses in their medical unit, and five other 'medics' besides her. They were also taught the basics of how to shoot a rifle, but being medics, they weren't armed. They also didn't have transport, other than this one truck. The advance had started today, and other than a couple far off shots, she hadn't heard any guns going off.

The truck ahead of her stopped. One of the three girls shoveling came back and thrust out her shovel at Cindy. "Your turn." she said.

Wordlessly, Cindy took the shovel and waded along beside the truck. The to others with her soon joined her. On front of the radiator was a half barrel that was insulated on the outside. Besides getting snow out of the trucks way, they had to ensure that barrel stayed full. Heat from the engine was sent to the barrel to melt it into water to make the truck run.

Cindy started shoveling and grumbled, "So we're going to shovel our way, all the way through Oregon."

"Wherever the Generals want us to go," the girl beside her said. "Welcome to the Resistance."

The image of tending to wounded men in long tents, like she had seen in movies was totally blown. She'd volunteered to come here just to shovel her ass all the way to Spokane. Maybe farther.

After what seemed like forever of shoveling the road, the truck moving up, then shoveling again, the driver stuck his head out the window and called, "Switch!"

"Gladly," Cindy said with a huff. She trudge to the back of the truck and handed her shovel over. Looking back over their path, as least she could not see the barn they were passing any more.

Hearing a roar overhead, she saw a pair of those H/K jets flying fast for the front line. Right after that, there was the rattle of machine gun fire, the high pitched, short buzz of super-rapid fire and a few canon shots. The intense fire died out. One more pop was heard, then that was it.

"That was no where near us, keep shoveling!" the driver called.

Cindy thought she heard another 'buzz' of shots, then another.

"Shovel just in the tracks, we gotta move!" the driver called.

Jeeze, what a hard ass, Cindy thought.

Then, it was her turn again.

Shoveling just for the tires was easier, and they did go faster though it was a bit tricky to keep the two shoveled tracks the same distance apart as the tires. She felt like they were actually going somewhere.

By the end of the day, Cindy was exhausted. She swore to god her arms were going to fall off and her back was going to just crumble. On her last 'shoveling' duty, they were coming to a bridge. She knew because the snow on either side dropped into a gulley, and the snow on the bridge was packed already. The driver let them walk across the bridge to start shoveling on the other side as the track spread out again.

Why didn't they just move along in a line to make this a whole lot easier? She wondered.

Getting dark by the end of her shoveling shift, the truck had it's lights on. She again returned to the back to walk along and rest. Watching the wide rear bumper, she decided to climb up on it and sit. Seeing this, the other two girls joined her.

.

The next day was the same. Bumper sit, shovel, bumper sit, shovel. The truck moved along slowly coming to a rise. Cindy again heard gunfire. This time it built up and was continuous. The nurse came out the back and the door knocked Cindy off the bumper.

"Get up!" The nurse snapped. "You and you, take this stretcher and your medic packs, you're needed on the front! Get the other girls back here!"

Cindy put her medic pack on and grabbed the front and another girl grabbed the back. They trudged through the snow. The girls in front of the truck moved to the back to get more supplies.

Stomping as quickly through the snow as she could, Cindy let the way and climbed up the road. Partway to the top, a Stug backed up over the edge, then crept back to the top. It fired a shot, which was loud, then backed up again. It shifted to the left and drove back up and fired another shot and slipped back down. A round of something hit the top of the ridge. Snow, dirt and rock exploded in the air and rained down all over. Cindy jumped over beside a tree and hugged it.

The girl behind her screamed and ran back the way they had come. The Stug again rose up, fired a shot and moved backwards. Going back to the left side, it did this again. This time, the Stug shot, then it exploded.

Cindy screamed and ducked behind her tree. The tree shook as a chunk of metal slammed into it. Not daring to move, or look, Cindy stayed huddled behind her tree.

Clanking of tracks sounded. Cindy peeked out to see a huge tank top the rise. Jet engines roared above her head. The Buzz that now sounded incredibly loud began as that tank fired. The huge tank lost it's top in an explosion.

Crying, Cindy noted it was quiet again, except for the dull roar of the fire rolling off the big tank. She peeked out then looked for her stretcher. Another fire got her attention. She ran back to the road to see the truck in pieces.

"No!" she cried and ran back to the truck. Bits were burning here and there. The only thing on the road was the frame and tires of the truck. Everything was scattered everywhere, even the bodies. Cindy stopped and gapped at the destruction. The driver and the nurses were just gone. The girl who'd been with her was hanging from a branch, dripped blood. A leg here, and arm there, a head, arm and part of a torso lay in bloodied snow. Cindy dropped to her knees and puked.

"Hey, here's a live one!' she heard someone call from behind her. She weakly turned to see a rifle bearing man run up to her. He grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. "Come on, let's go!"

Stunned from what she'd just seen, Cindy went blindly with him. "They're all dead," she cried weakly.

"More might be unless we get you moving. You're a medic, right?" he asked.

"I'm new I … don't know if I can do this!" Cindy cried.

"Hey, if you don't try more will die. Even if you save a few, you will have done some good," he told her. "We have to move"

Topping the ridge through the ditch made by a shell, Cindy saw the down slope and valley ahead filled with burning tanks and bodies in the snow. One of the flying craft was at the end of a long trench, burning. "Did we win?" she asked meekly.

"This time, but more are coming. Command says we have to get who we can off the field and treated. We'll do our best to keep these next ones off you," he said firmly.

Going down into the slaughter, Cindy tripped, the man held her up. "Do what you can for them," he said again. He let her go and ran down a tank track for the next hillside.

Cindy got her medic pack off and looked at all the bodies, searching for movement. Seeing a rifle laying in the snow, she picked it up and slung it over her back. If she could shoot back, maybe she could keep from getting killed. She the reached the neared man and felt for a pulse. Nothing. She kept going looking for anyone who might still be alive as more rifle and canon fire sounded.

.

John's 40 Stug force ran through the mountains into Washington state. They were getting occasional Sky Net radio traffic. Each one was weaker and moving to the south. It appeared their plan was working. Going up another mountain road, Cameron stopped them at the top to search ahead. For as far as she could see there was nothing flying and the landscape was smooth, unbroken snow. They were half way across the state, and nothing had come to meet them. It wasn't until they approached the coast that things changed.

Cameron, John Major Gentry and Catherine Weaver stood on top of the Stug that was parked back from the top of the crest of snow, looking over the top with binoculars at the city before them.

"The streets are plowed," Cameron stated.

Plowed streets, signs of habitation. John though this was very strange. Being uphill of the city, they could see over the snow banks and down the mostly cleared streets. John also noted there were no driveways plowed or access to houses. "Sky Net plowed so it can move through town," John noted.

"Or it is a trap to entice people to come into town, thinking there are other humans there," Catherine said.

John noted this city pretty much took up the whole valley. Going around it meant climbing more mountains. Going through it meant letting Sky net know where they were.

"Sky Net terminators would be waiting at key points for humans to show up," Cameron said. "Roadways, stores and places to get supplies, hospitals. The stream that runs through town is frozen, we should follow that."

"I doubt Sky Net will leave any possible entry uncovered," Catherine said. "Let me go first with my TX's. We will clear a path."

"Down the stream, that is the least visible route that I can see." John stated. "We don't want any sentries to get a signal out that we're here."

"Agreed. I will signal Cameron when it's safe to proceed." Catherine stated. She walked back, jumping stug to stug to get her TX's together.

"Won't she be vulnerable to those terminators?" Gentry asked.

"Catherine is a better terminator," Cameron stated.

Gentry looked at Cameron and asked, "She's one too?"

"Catherine is a T-1001, more advanced that anything Sky Net has right now," John explained. "We're fighting Sky Net together."

"She looks human!" Gentry said, shocked that machines could imitate people.

"So do I," Cameron stated.

"What?" Gentry asked. This was Connor's Lt General, and she was metal?

Cameron flashed her eyes and said, "Fooled you."

"Don't pick in him Cam," John said with a huff.

"Sorry."

"Get us to that stream, let's go." John told them.

Gentry stared at Cameron, then at Weaver and the other lightly clothed men as the group walked off with their ski-boards on their feet. They could look human. Absolutely human! That made him feel a little numb. Knowing what Weaver was doing for the resistance, he also realized these terminators were not the enemy. Like John Connor told him, Sky Net was the enemy of all of them. Humans and AI machines.

As Catherine expected, upon approaching the town, the terminators recognized her and her TX's as machines, and didn't try to destroy them or stop them. That made it easy to walk up and skewer their power supply cable with an arm-sword. One by one, the TX squad disabled and deposited terminators by the stream for pickup. The T-600's and T-800's were still being made of inferior materials, but their CPU's were advanced enough to salvage.

Instead of clearing a path through the town, Weaver and her TX's went through the whole town and collected 9 terminators that were in the town. When the S tugs rolled down the stream into town, she had the machines lined up on the bank, stripping the most vital parts off them. Head with all the sensors, power supplies, joint servos, all the things that made terminators work. The plain steel frames she left. She knew how to build T-800's and had better compounds to work with.

John wasn't thrilled for the delay, but he knew they were going to need those terminators, and they had gotten through the town without Sky Net knowing they were here.

Leaving this small city, Cameron found plowed roads heading east. Sky Net was removing snow to move it's units faster. John decided to change the order of travel. He had Weaver and her ten Stugs lead the way, and travel over the already plowed roads.

If they ran onto Sky Net units, she could make them think they were all terminators inside these Stugs. If the Sky Net machines did stop them, Weaver and her TX's were the best able to deal with them.

Coming to the coast, They found material to make sleds to carry more terminator parts on. Coming into a coastal city, Weaver was disabling and collecting terminators as they went. By the time they got to the bridge to the island Bremerton was on, Weaver had 23 terminator bodies piled up on a few sleds.

John had thought they would need to fight their way in. Not only was this much easier, but they also gained terminators to fight for them. On the single bridge going over to submarine base, which was plowed, the terminator guards were replaced by five of Gentry's Stugs for guards.

Where the gates used to be to get on to the base was visible by the poles still standing. The base itself was flattened, even depressed in a large, shallow crater. It had to be a ground blast, the place was completely flattened. John also noticed a large ship by the docks as Weaver's group went in. The ship was listing over on the side several cranes were on the ship. It looked like they were trying to lift something very heavy.

John broke radio silence. "Mrs. Weaver, that large ship has it's cranes attached to something."

"It's a submarine, John, The hull looks intact. We are going to try to take the ship over.

John announced, "All units listen up! Delta Stugs, take positions in a semi circle around that large ship. Fifth Cavalry, secure the base, inspect the docks for any ships still afloat, and ensure the bridge stays open and clear."

"Fifth Cavalry, understood."

.

Sky Net had raised an Ohio class sub partway out of the water. For how bad the ship raising it was listed over, the submarine was too heavy for it to get more than ten feet of deck showing. Looking at it, John saw the periscope move.

On the dock, plasma beams flashed. The terminators working at getting more cranes onto the dock, and Catherine's TX's and their Stugs were exchanging fire. In no time, the terminators and their partially build cranes were slag. One TX was down, and a Stug had a hull burn-through, killing the crew inside. With the plasma beams going back and forth, three of the cables from the ship broke. The front of the sub fell. The boom of the crane holding the middle of the sub folded and was pulled down.

John pointed and said, "Cut the rest of those cables, there's men in that sub!"

A couple plasma shots parted the cables, the sub dropped free with a gigantic splash. The ship recoiled and rocked back and forth, floating away from the dock.

Catherine pulled the chip of the TX that was disabled, then salvaged six more terminator chips from the ones on the dock.

John had his Stug driven to the head of the dock. The commander then stuck his head out. "General, we're getting Sky Net transmissions from close by, we think from that ship."

John looked at the ship. From the sub splashing down, it was moving away. He yelled over to Catherine, "Mrs. Weaver, that ship is transmitting to Sky Net. Can you stop it?"

Weaver nodded. She pointed to the ship, then talked to her TX's. They lined up on the dock, both arm plasma canons out. They pounded the bridge with a constant rain of plasma shots. Smoke came from the bridge, then small fires grew. The bridge sagged down on itself. They then shot the back of the ship low on the waterline, then water blossomed into steam as they cut the hull apart right at the water line.

"The transmissions have stopped," the commander called.

The ship was settling down by the stern.

"Good Job!" John called. He looked at the sub that was now only showing the sail. The periscope was watching Weaver, then turned to look at him. Someone was on board that sub, and he doubted Terminators knew how to use periscopes. If men were inside they had not received a large radiation dose. Sealed up inside, their air was clean.

The way the sub at now, the bridge hatch should be accessible. John had to figure out a way to talk to the men on board.

.

Cindy found medic wise, there wasn't much she could do except bind up a severed arm or leg and cauterize it. When a man fell and broke his leg, she was actually happy she had an injury she could fix. They had been at this for four days now. She'd lost count of how many men were dead. They had three Stugs left, all the H/K's had been shot down. No more of the Terminator H/K tanks had showed themselves.

Their army seemed to be moving faster, also. Instead of slow movement ahead, with many human bodies on the ground, a larger portion of forms lying in the snow were metal terminators. She dare to believe they might be winning.

.

Sky Net made sure the humans would be beaten by sending 95% of it's units south to keep them from getting near the submarine they had. Then the ship doing the salvage reported being attacked by a mass of humans. It was going into details about the vehicles attacking it, then it went off line. Sky Net immediately called all forces to pull back and get rid of the humans around that sub. All units responded.

Bedell's army also responded when sky Net stopped fighting and retreated. He pushed an attack hard. Apparently, Sky Net did not have the concept of a rear guard action. Terminators turned and fought after they were hit from behind, if they weren't disabled. Human snipers got in position to take out three of four terminators before they turned to shoot back. Even then, terminators who hadn't been shot at kept going. The biggest problem Bedell faced now, was keeping up with the retreating terminators.

.

John didn't know how well whoever was on the periscope could see, so he had the radio frequency they were using painted on the side of his Stug with grease and positioned so the sub could easily see it. He was hoping they would see it and call them.

While John waited for the sub to acknowledge them, Gentry called in. He was getting radio signals from Bedell. They were chasing terminators north. Gentry's men were also now shooting terminators who were trying to get across the bridge. at the far end, the entrance to the bridge was a pile of deactivated terminators, more arrived and kept shooting and trying to advance. It was plasma fire these terminators were shooting, and Gentry was responding with Plasma fire. So far, three Stugs were lost, but they were holding firm. One shot took out a terminator, it was taking five or six shots for the terminators to dug through the ceramic mix armor of the Stugs. Not a single terminator yet had been able to step onto the bridge. For the moment, each side was shooting across the water at the other.

John got a call through to Bedell. "Connor calling Bedell, come in please."

"John! It's Martin. These terminators gave us a tough time, but now it's like they folded. We're having a hard time keeping up with them, they are retreating so fast."

"They are retreating from you to come fight us," John replied. "We're at the sub base, just south of Seattle. We're holding them off for now, but they got no problem sacrificing themselves to gain ground. Where are you?"

"We're two miles south of you. I swear every Sky Net unit in the States is in between us! I just got a report they have quit running, they are standing to fight again."

"They got nowhere to go," John told him. "This island isn't that big. Have you gotten to the bridges that links to the mainland?"

"Yes, the terminators hold the island side."

"OK, We'll attack out and try to open those bridges for you," John told him. "Just keep the ones there occupied."

"This is Lt. Booker, of the USS Alaska, SSBN 732. Who is on this channel?"

John turned to look at the submarine, and the periscope that was turned to him. He waved at it and said, "Lt. Booker, this is John Connor, leader of the Human resistance. We are currently getting rid of the Sky net forces in the area. What is the status of your men? Do you need medical supplies, food, water?"

"An explanation would be nice," Booker said. "What's happening in the world? Who are we at war with?"

"That's a long explanation, and I don't want to tie up our radio," John told him. "Can I come over and explain?"

"The sail hatch is above the water line, I'll meet you on the bridge."

"Understood. The air is radioactive, so ensure you are well covered, see you soon." John told him.

John then noted they had nothing here to bridge the gap between the sub and the dock. "Anyone seen a rowboat?" he asked.

.

Gentry was more than happy to take on the mission. He had twenty Stugs lined up, and after a solid multiple volley of shooting everything near the other end of their bridge, had the Stugs charged over at full speed, firing as they charged. Avoiding the large piles of ruined metal in the middle of the bridge, the Stugs bounced over the smaller piles and ran into active terminators, running them over. The single hits on the Stug hulls were deflected. One stug's hull succumbed to the plasma pounding and a shot got inside to wipe out the commander and the driver. The Stug burned, the gunner tried to escape and was fried by plasma bolts. Another Stug hit a car under the snow and was flipped over onto it's top, skidding to a halt. Terminators shot it, another Stug ran those over, the one behind that melted the terminators with plasma.

Sky Net's latest Terminators, the T-800's that had Plasma guns, and the last ones in North America, were trapped, and were now being cut to pieces. The Stugs attacked the Terminators at the bridges, then turned and drove to the sides. Bedell's men raced across the bridges onto the island to help eliminate terminators who now stood in place, searching for where the next attack came from. It wasn't long before there were none left.

John's army had taken Washington state, and more importantly, the last corner of Sky Net in the Northwest, and they had saved a submarine full of men.

.

In the wreckage of the dock cranes, a boom was found to put across the gap between the dock and the sail plane on the submarine. It wasn't easy but with some help from a Stug and Cameron, the tip of the boon rested on the sub. John went with Cameron right behind him in cast he fell. They walked the steel framework, John took a last running step onto the slightly curved top surface of the sail plane.

This close to the Sub's hull, John now saw the steel steps to a ladder going up to the bridge. A man in an orange suit held his hand out as John neared the top. He helped John into the small space at the front of the sail, then Cameron. Three people in this space was a tight fit.

"I'm General John Connor, this is Lt. General Cameorn Connor," John said and offered his hand.

"Lt. Nathan Booker," Booker replied and shook his hand then Cameron's. "What was that firefight I saw here on the dock? We're using energy weapons now?"

"As they are made here, yes," John told him. "October 8th, the Army, we think was the source, put a new system on line to defend the US. It was and intelligent program, an AI called Sky Net. Sky Net started doing things the Army didn't want. They tried to shut it down, it defended itself on October 11th by launching all the nukes to kill all humans. It also took over all the automated projects. Drones especially. Some people that knew this was coming gave Sky Net information on advanced weapons. The war we are fighting is one against Sky Net, and for human survival. Will you help us?"

LT. Booker paused and said, "I must inform command."

"There is no command," Cameron stated. "Other than our own bunkers and caverns, the only military unit we found beside this ship, is Major Gentry's Fifth Cavalry Unit, who is currently fighting Sky Net machines not far away from this base."

"General Reese pulled Gentry's bacon out of the fire, now he helped us fight our way here and help you guys," John told him.

Lt. Booker shook his head. "This … is unbelievable."

"Unfortunately, it's the truth," John said. "The only real advantage we have here, is the satellites covering North America were taken out, so Sky Net can't find us until we attack them. The rest of the world is not so lucky. Here, we're only finding bits and pieces of units, and small groups of survivors. I can't imagine what it's like in Europe or Asia."

"What can we do?" Booker asked.

John sighed and said, "We need to take out Sky Net's world wide network. We have no tactical missiles or the coordinates to hit individual satellites to cut Sky Net's network. That means we need to make high altitude EMPs to blow their circuitry apart. That will give other countries a better chance at fighting back."

"We are winning our battles here for the moment," Cameron said. "Once Sky Net wipes out the rest of the world, we're next on their extermination list," She ended heavily.

"With less that 20,000 troops and only a total of 190,000 survivors," We don't stand a chance unless we even the odds," John added.

Booker's eyes widened. "That's it? That's all the people that are left?" he cried.

"All we could find. And so far, we've been all the way to Utah," John said. 'And energy weapons to fight these terminators is brand new. They don't have any on the east coast. Lt. Gentry was running, trying to save the remainder of his unit so they could find help to make a stand."

"Dear God," Lt. Booker breathed. Waving at the sub, he said, "All we have is the stand-down duty section on board, one third of the crew, and three have them died of radiation exposure, and two got blown off the boat when the first nuke landed on the base."

"Do you have anyone who can fire the missiles you got?" John asked.

Lt. Booker shook his head. "No, it requires the Captain and Ex-oh, as well as the proper codes and the authentication team, as well as the Weapons officer. None of them were on board, and we haven't seen anyone except those machines after the bombs fell."

'The permissions, are those electronic?" Cameron asked.

"Some are. Others, Captain's permission to fire, Weps permission to fire, and all the keys for the individual missiles to be launched are all locked up, and only two men have the combination to those safes. Like I said, they aren't here," Booker explained.

"I want to see if I can bypass those safeties," Cameron said to John.

"You can' do that!" Booker said firmly.

In a hard tone. John said, "Hey Lt. Our military, our country and all the commanders are gone! You have two options here. ONE help us get rid of Sky Net's network to give the people of the world a chance to keep living, OR you can sit here in this harbor until Sky Net comes for you again. We beat the Sky Net forces because they didn't know about us. They. Do. Now. Sky Net will send many more, and it won' be a surprise this time. I am sure Sky Net units are already on they way. The ball's in your court, Lt. Do you help us save humanity, or do you run?"

"I cannot make decisions like that!" Booker cried.

"Then surrender to me," John stated.

"What?"

"One of the people we saved is an Australian Submarine Commander," Cameron stated. "If you won't command this boat, she will."

"You … you are going to take this ship over?" Booker asked in shock.

"That's up to you," John stated. "By what I told you, you should know the gravity of the situation we're in. Cameron, call Mrs. Weaver and her team over here."

Cameron nodded and yelled, "Mrs. Weaver, we need you here on the sub!"

"What happens to the crew?" Booker asked.

"If they can do their jobs. Nothing. Lt., I am out to save every single person I can," John stated. "If they can't do their jobs, they get offloaded and send back to the caverns we have to keep people safe from Sky Net. You included. I'd rather you and them stay on board and do what you can to help us save the human race."

Booker shifted in place then said, "I can't speak for the crew, this is … too much. Come on down, I'll call the crew together. Tell them what you told me." he then climbed down the hatch into the ship.

"I go first," Cameron said, and climbed down.

Weaver appeared on the ladder and said, "I heard, John, I'll go next. Then you and the TX's."

John agreed.

The inside of the submarine was tight. When John climbed down, Booker was on the 1MC, calling everyone to the crews' mess. Cameron was holding a pistol and she hadn't drawn hers.

"They're coming," Booker said with a look of defeat. He cast his wary gaze at Cameron.

"I had to disarm him," Cameron stated.

Let's get this done," John told her.

.

Once the crew's mess was filled with everyone on board, John made his speech to them in an even tone. When he finished a chubby sailor stood up and said, "Thank God someone has the balls to do something! Look guys, we've been sitting here for months with our thumbs up our asses. Our country got fuckin NUKED! So what did we do? NOTHING but sit here, guns loaded! I say it's time to give some payback." He pointed to John and added, "This guy has the right idea, hit back where we can. Show those fucks we will NOT take this shit lying down. Now, who's with me?"

"Hell yeah!" another sailor agreed loudly. "What do we have to loose? Everything we knew is blasted into nuclear waste. Our wives, girlfriends, family, all gone." To John, he said, "Connor, right? Tell us what we have to do."

"I'm with you," another man said, "But can you get us some food? I'm ready to start eating the friggin cans."

The whole crew was with him. Even Lt. Booker agreed to stay on and be the Ship's Engineer.

John appointed Cameron as temporary Weapons Officer to get those missies ready to fire. There were three weapons types on board, he assigned three TX's to help them, the chubby guy named Salavati who spoke up was now in charge of the weapons crew. They had no medical personnel, so he had word send he needed a medic on board. He also send word to supply some food for the crew.

The resistance now had a submarine. Now to get it under way and begin doing some good.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 10

In the crew's mess, the crew sat at tables, watching Lt. Booker, John, Cameron and Mrs. Weaver standing in front of the serving line at the back.

Lt. Booker, said, "Men, I called everyone her to discuss an important Matter. We've been wondering about what happened, and how big it is. Mr. Connor here has answers, and will explained."

John spoke up. I'm John Connor, leader of the human resistance. Beside me Lt. General Cameron Connor, and Catherine Weaver, leader of the machine resistance. I case you didn't know AI's are real. Before this war broke out, Catherine ran a very successful company. Now, her and I are working together to save everyone we can. Let me give you a short explanation of what's gong on."

"The Air Force, we think, developed an AI to prevent human error in the missile defense of our country. It is called Sky Net. The branch of military that developed it isn't that important. The results are. Sky Net is a true AI, it thinks, it acts independently. That was the first big mistake, letting a sentient entity take over all high tier military operations that does not full understand the effects of what it does. Sky Net knows efficiency and tactics. It knows self defense. That is all it knows. It has no concept of things like negotiation, morals or interaction. When it started doing things out government didn't want, they tried to unplug it. Being in our military network, and most likely other also, it saw this as an attack on itself. To protect itself from the humans that were trying to kill it, it launched all the nuclear weapons it could. The only reason you have not launched all of yours is that the satellites that would have given you the order, was destroyed. Most everyone else did launch. I mean everyone, us, Russia, China, India. Nuclear Armageddon has happened guys. Millions upon millions dead. Few people are left. Since there are people left, Sky Net is building machines to hunt the rest of us down. Hunter Killer drones and tanks, humanoid AI's called terminators. Their mission is to exterminate us. That is why Sky Net was after your sub. It wanted the nukes. Not to threaten with but to use to eliminate us."

"Sky Net also does not like AI's it does not control. Cameron and Mrs. Weaver are only a couple of them, and there are more who are working with us to get rid of Sky Net. Yes, Mrs. Weaver is an AI who is much more advanced than Sky Net itself. So is Cameron here. We are working together to stop Sky Net before everyone is dead and the planet is destroyed. Any questions so far?"

The crew were staring at them. "This shits real?" one man asked.

"It is," John said firmly.

Another man pointed at Cameron, "Wait, she's an AI?"

"TOK-715," Cameron stated.

"But …. You look human," the man complained.

Catherine cleared her throat and said, "We do. It is necessary to conform into society. Unlike Sky Net, who's only goal is to destroy whatever it does not control, we want to live free. This may be a hard concept for you, but we are free thinking beings."

"This isn't a joke," the kaki clad man said.

"No Joke," Catherine stated. She lifted up and hand and morphed it into a long silver blade. "Normally, we do not make ourselves known to people unless we are very close to them. Currently, we are operating in a dire emergency situation. If anyone is to live, we must all work together." The long blade shrunk back down and her hand reformed. "I am T-1001. As John Connor said, we are trying to save as many as we can and form a force to defeat Sky Net. It will not be easy, and many more will die. Sky Net is world wide, and we have the small advantage that due to satellite destruction, Sky Net cannot immediately see what happens here in North America. Other places in the world are not that fortunate. Once Sky Net wipes out the rest of the world, it will be coming to kill us also. We need to act before that happens."

"Damn," a couple men whispered.

"So, what do we do?" another man asked.

"First, we try to help those on other continents to survive by using your missiles here to create high air bursts," John stated. "The EMP effect will wipe out Sky Net's receivers. That will give whoever is left on other continents, time to react, hide, whatever they are trying to do. We need your help, guys."

One of the crew stood up and said, "I say we do it! We've been sitting here with our thumbs up our asses ever since we got nuked. What in the hell do we have these missiles for if we're not going to strike back at the enemy? Guys, everything you knew outside this boat is GONE! Our wives, girlfriends, kids, have been burned to ash. What's it gonna take for us to get our asses in gear?" He looked at John and asked, "Can these AI's bypass the safeties so we can launch?"

"Once we know the circuitry, we can," Cameron replied.

"Then let's to it!" he said, fist clenched.

John spoke up. "Anyone who doesn't want to help, we have caverns we are taking people to that are radiation free, and for the moment, safe from Sky Net. Anyone who stays will be expected to do your jobs. Go or stay, is up to you."

The man standing said, 'I'm Petty Officer Salavati, and I'm staying. I'm a fire control tech, I can show you what you have to do to get some payback on this Sky Net thing!"

"Me too," another man stated, "I'm sure you're going to need the nuke plant fired up so we can move."

One by one every man was hot for revenge, and eager to get moving.

John looked at Lt. Booker and asked, "Will you stay and lead your crew?"

Lt. Booker nodded. "I will. We're going to need supplies and manpower, we're damn near out of food, and this is only a third of the crew. We had just pulled in the day before and we were on stand down. Not seeing anyone else, I must assume they are all dead.""

John turned to Mrs. Weaver, and asked. "Catherine, can you go ask General Bedell for some men and supplies?"

Catherine nodded and left.

"I can go begin learning about the targeting and launching system," Cameron said.

"Do it. Officer Salavati, will you show Cameron the firing circuits?" John asked.

"Do I get a commission?" he asked with a grin.

"You are acting weapons officer," John told him. "Go make this ship ready to launch."

"Yes, General! General Cameron, come with me." Salavati said eagerly.

"Captain Booker," John said, which made Booker look at him. "I have a couple things to attend to. Get this ship up off the bottom and prepare to get under way. The men coming have probably never seen the inside of a submarine, so they will need to be trained. I trust you have the men to do that?"

"I won't be easy, we'll do our best," Booker assured him.

.

Sky Net was analyzing the conflicting reports. The human resistance had not yet been formed. All humans had been eradicated in the northwest US area. A sizable force of Humans attacked from the south. It's forces went south to get rid of them. Next in an area where no humans were, a strong force of humans appeared right at the submarine they were trying to salvage. It's forces were recalled to help deal with them. Then, the last message was from the ship was it was being attacked with energy weapons.

It analyzed the reports, looking for errors. Some reports could not be true. The humans could not have been removed from the area if they attacked in force. The area had been hit with ground impacts first to help crumble underground structures before the air bursts wiped out anything on the surface. Terminators were stationed as far as a hundred miles out. How could a human force be in the area?

It sent out a request for status. One reply came back, the unit was immobile in deep snow and could not move.

If terminators were held immobile, how did humans move? This was a situation that needed study. It ordered the forces it had farther north to go to the Bremerton area to investigate, and finish salvaging that submarine that still had nuclear weapons and kill any humans they came across.

.

The USS Akaska was on the surface now and undamaged, only suffering a lack of paint on the sail above the waterline where the top of the ship had been exposed. The duty section had acted quickly upon the first blast that wiped out Seattle. They tossed off the mooring lines and sunk themselves at the pier. Three men didn't get back inside, and were vaporized when a bomb hit the base, but the rest of the crew, and the ship was saved. Shielded by water, and ground. the radiation from the closest blast was not enough to kill the crew or damage the ship. They all got high doses, but not lethal ones.

John and Cameron were in the control room, Cameron told John what they had to do as she showed him the metal box she had ripped open on the Conn.

"This is Captain's permission to fire. It is a key switch protected by a combination lock. I tore the box open and hot wired it on. There is another down in fire control, the Weapons Officer's permission to fire. I got the pistol grip out that is the firing button. There are other things that need to be done, and Officer Salavati with his men and a TX are getting the missile ready for launch. They should be done by the end of the day." Cameron explained.

"Outstanding," John told her, and slipped an arm around her.

Cameron smiled and put an arm around him. "This will be something Sky Net does not expect," she said, then in a more serious tone, she added, "And Sky Net will begin looking for us very hard. We will become it's number one target."

"I know, but it has to be done," John said in a huff. "Wish we have more time for … other things."

"Time is of the essence, Sky Net is sure to have terminators and H/K's on the way."

"For sure," John agreed.

"General I…" the man coming stopped short upon seeing John and Cameron in a hug. "Ahhh Cameron is an AI, right?" he asked weakly.

"I am," Cameron stated.

"Ahh, are you … together?" he asked.

"We have not made a baby yet, but yes, we are," Cameron told him.

"You can do that?" he asked in a squeak.

"I am fully functional," Cameron explained.

"What is your information?" John asked.

The man collected himself and said, "Oh, yes sir, All the new crew are on board, the stores are loaded. The new medic from Bedell's army is settling into sick bay, and Mrs. Weaver reports that General Bedell and Major Gentry are ready to depart."

"Thank you," John told him. "Tell General Bedell I'll be out in a few minutes, I want to speak to him and Major Gentry before they leave."

"Yes sir," the man said, and went on his way.

John cast Cameron sad look and said, "So much for some snuggle time."

Cameron kissed him and said, "When we get out to sea, We'll have time to snuggle. The sooner we get everyone out of this hot zone, the better."

"Very true. I'll be back after I send our troops on their way," John said and kissed her.

.

John noted the sleds of Major Gentry were filled with deactivated terminators. To Gentry he said, "After you get these terminators to Weaver's facility, make sure you stop by the caverns and load up on supplies before heading back to Las Vegas. Good luck."

Martin asked "John, why don't we stay and defend this place? You know Sky Net's going to be coming here."

"And this area is hotter than hell in radiation," John replied. "Anyone stayed here is going to be cooked from the inside. That's why I want everyone out. Post lookouts no closer than thirty miles away from any city. You have reinforcements coming?"

"We do, five thousand troops and 20 Stugs, all plasma shooters, with a supply train," Bedell said. "I take it we are to go heavy in camo?"

"Yes, remember, infrared and radar is what H/K's use. Post your men carefully in small groups. Stay off the radio unless it is an emergency. We want to give Sky Net as little information about us as we can. We're leaving too, Good luck," John said and shook his hand, and Gentry's. "Gentlemen, move out."

.

At sea, one of Weaver's AI ships , a destroyer, was cruising off the coast of Washington State and picked up a radar contact coming in from open ocean. It turned to intercept. After the maneuver, it saw a dozen smaller contacts spit from the single contact. It armed weapons and selected a ship-to-ship missile programmed to go around the incoming contacts and hit the large one. After that missile was off, it fired three more surface to air missiles at the incoming.

Watching the results, One of the incoming veered off to chase the ship to ship missile. The three anti aircraft missiles met the incoming. Three of the contacts went away. The ship to ship hit the large contact.

The close in 30 MM chain gun was activated. The destroyer launched two more missiles at the incoming. These hit, then the incoming was too close to shoot any more. The chain gun began blasting away. Aiming the forward gun, the ship fire that at the incoming also. Four more contacts disappeared as the visual sensors picked up the last five H/K's incoming. Another blew up from a the forward gun firing, and two more dropped into the ocean from the chain gun. The last pair shot plasma rounds, one after another at the middle of the ship.

Flooding sensors picked up a large hole in the ship. The ship kept shooting as it settled into the water. Finally getting the last two H/K's The last burning H/K dove into the side of the ship. The ship shuddered from the explosive impact and listed heavily to port.

Before power went out, it sent a battle report at high power. Power went out right after that and it sunk down out of sight.

The anti ship missile found it's target and rammed into the freighter's side, right where the engine room was. Exploding inside the freighter, It destroyed the ship's engines and the torn hull open to let sea water in. The freighter settled by the stern, taking all 5000 terminators and fifty H/K tanks to the bottom with it.

.

John didn't relax until they were out of the sound and into the ocean. Right after diving he, Cameron, Mr. Booker and Mr. Salavati sat and planned the missile strikes. One missile, spreading out it's warheads, could cover eastern Russia and northeast China Another to cover the rest of China, a third to cover central Russia, one to cover western Europe, and fourth to cover South America.

"Why South America?" Captain Booker asked.

John said, "We don't know if Sky Net is down there, but if we can, I want to EMP the globe, just incase Sky Net is there."

"Smart move," Mr. Salavati said. "A trip around South America, and we can cover the rest of the world with … two more missiles. One for Africa, another for eastern Europe and western Russia, and the mideast. Maybe a third for the India, and all the 'Stan' countries in the area. Each warhead is going to cover about a thousand mile diameter with EMP, and spread out, they cover continents. No fallout, no radiation either since they will be going off so high up."

John nodded and said, "Captain, you may fire when ready."

.

John had never thought much about how missiles launched. The missiles didn't light off in the tubes, they were ejected like a bullet out of a gun. Like a gun, the submarine recoiled down slightly, shaking the boat as each missile left the tubes. Once all four were fired, Captain Booker ordered them deep and fast to exit the area, just in case there was something to shoot back at them.

The missiles were effective. The bombs exploding high in the atmosphere did fry every receiver Sky Net had on the continent, cutting it's communications. It also shut down every terminator in that area. In the two minutes that Sky Net's forces were immobile, Surviving humans either got away to safety, or smashed/ blew up the Sky Net machines before they ran for they ran for safety.

.

Two hours after launching, the USS Akaska came to periscope depth and raised the ESM mast up, searching for signals. There weren't any.

.

Now that the immediate jobs had been done, John and Cameron took a tour of the sub. The men the met told them about the ship. John was happy to learn they had torpedo tubes loaded in case they met a hostile. Gong down to fire control John praised the men on a job well done. Going back to the 'launcher' area he gave them the same praise. Continuing on, they stopped by the Sick bay to find Cindy inventorying some lockers.

"Cindy?" Cameron asked, staring at the girl. "WHAT are you doing here? How did you get here?"

Cindy cast her a smile. "Hi Cameron. I was picked as the medic for this ship. It's good think all this stuff was packed away tight, the ship really shook when those missiles launched.," Cindy replied.

"Who picked you?" Cameron asked.

"General Bedell," Cindy told her. With a shrug she added, "I was the only medic left, and so I was it."

"WHY were you with General Bedell's forces to begin with?" Cameron asked in a harder tone.

"I enlisted." Cindy said simply.

"You're underage."

Cindy eyed her and said, "OK, so I lied about my age. I came to do my part. Yeah, it was downright frightening, but someone had to try to help the wounded. If I wasn't there, no one would have helped those people," she stated.

"Does Mom know?" Cameron asked.

"I left Mom a note, I put it in the meal pack she had out for dinner. I didn't want her to know too soon. I was afraid she'd try to stop me," Cindy explained.

John let out a sigh. He could see Cameron wasn't happy with the girl.

"Of course she would!" Cameron snapped. "Cindy, you might very well die out here!" Cameron told her. Shifting to her terminator stare, Cameron said, "When we get to port, you're going back home."

"Why?" Cindy asked.

"I don't want you to die," Cameron said flatly.

"I don't want to die, but I have to help," Cindy told her. Motioning to John and Cameron, she added, "Do you think I want to loose either of you? No! Cameron, everyone knows we have to work together. There's a hundred people organizing and passing out food rations back in the caverns. Here, I'm making a difference, saving lives! It's something I have to do!"

John clasped Cameron's hand. "Cam? Let's go talk."

Cameron looked at John and said "I don't want Cindy hurt!"

"No one does, we need to talk about this." He tried to pull Cameron away, she resisted.

"John, Cindy should not be here," Cameron stated.

John was hoping to talk to Cameron where Cindy couldn't hear. That wasn't going to happen, so he just said it. "Cam, listen, Cindy has to find her place in this war as all of us do. Yeah, she's young, BUT for her to even volunteer makes her very brave and I applaud that. She's doing her part to stop Sky Net. At the moment, this is probably the safest place she can be. Honestly, I don't want anyone else to die, but it is going to happen."

"I don't like this, John," Cameron said firmly.

John gave a dry chuckle and said, "We just launched 4 nuclear missiles with multiple warheads. I don't like that much either, but it had to be done. Cindy is doing what she feels she has to do. If anything, you should be proud of her."

Cameron looked at John, then at Cindy.

"I have to help," Cindy stated. "Tell me you will go home and stay out of the war, and I'll follow you. If not, then I'm staying here, doing what I can until the war is over, or I'm dead."

Cameron's hand twitched. The left one that John was holding. He felt the pain and heard the crack. He bit back, not letting out a yelp. His wince did get Cameron's attention.

Cameron looked down and quickly let go. "John, I'm sorry," Cameron said weakly.

"That's gonna swell up," John said tightly. "Don't worry about it, I should have known better. Right now, I think Cindy needs your support."

"And I need to look at that hand," Cindy said firmly, and grabbed his wrist to inspect his hand. Feeling his bones, she said, Yup, it's called a boxers break. It's not bad, but I'm going to put it in a cast."

John let Cindy tend to his hand as Cameron gazed on, chastened.

"Cam, it's all right," John told her.

Cameron watched Cindy put John's hand in the cast, then waited for it to harden. She note Cindy's careful attention to him. Even though she didn't like it, she said, "John's right. I am proud of you Cindy. I just want you safe."

Cindy smiled at Cameron briefly and said, "I want us all safe. Until we can be, we must do our best to end this war."

Once Cindy was done with John's hand, Cameron hugged her. Cindy returned the hug.

"So, you're not mad at me?" Cindy asked.

"I am. I also understand. Do your best, Cindy Young, and stay alive. That's an order," Cameron told her firmly.

Cindy chuckled and replied, "I plan to. And be careful with John OK?" she added with a crooked grin.

"I will," Cameron assured her.

They left Cindy to her work and moved on. Going back to a machinery space, the crewman that was teaching two of Bedell's army men noticed them and said, "Welcome Generals Connor. Something I can help you with?"

"Just looking around," John told him. "We've never seen the inside of a submarine before."

"Well if you're interested, I was telling the noobs about the motor generator sets," the man said, motioning to a big unit that looked like two giant motors facing each other.

"Sure, please continue," John told him.

A the man talked and explained that one was AC and one was DC, both were motors and generators. One was able to drive the other. AC drove to charge the ships batteries, DC drove when they needed AC power. John looked over at Cameron. He realized that the man had called them Generals Connor. Without thinking about it, That was how he had been introducing Cameron, as general Cameron Connor, not Phillips. He was already considering Cameron his wife. As soon as he could, he wanted to make that official.

Cameron must have been reading his thoughts, because she looked at him and smiled.

.

After a dinner of MRE's John and Cameron were on their bunk, which had been the Executive officer's stateroom. The space was tight, but they had their own tiny shower, desk and a door. Sitting leaning against each other, John said, "I feel as if we're already married. Once we get back to the bunker, I'd like to find a priest, or any clergyman, and make it official."

Cameron grew a grin. "Yes, you're already calling me, General Connor. You know Sarah's not going to be happy about it."

"Some things you just can't help," John said vacantly.

"I love you and you love me," Cameron stated.

"That is what is most important," John said firmly. "Mom will learn to deal with it."

A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," John said.

"Sir, Sonar has a surface contact bearing 264, range 15000 yards, drawing right … north. Classified a US destroyer, " the man reported.

"Is it a problem?"

"No sir, It's not pinging active, and this deep, it won't hear us."

"Mrs. Weaver has been making ships she finds in San Diego into AI's to patrol the coast. It's probably one of those," John said. "Don't worry about it unless it becomes a problem."

"Yes, sir," the man said and left.

Cameron said, "If we find plane that are flyable, we can turn those into drones also."

"Great idea, my future wife," John told her. They kissed. The kisses turned deeper, the petting began. They took this quiet time to enjoy each other.

.

In the three calm days it took to get to a point between LA and San Diego that Catherine Weaver said was the best place to dock, John and Cameron were able to take more time with each other. The USS Alaska was now a resistance ship, and the US Navy formalities were not so formal. The resistance men were learning the ship and given qualification cards to work on so they would be qualified to be crew members.

John looked at these cards. It amazed him the amount of knowledge they had to learn. Basically, everything about the ship. Every piece of machinery and how it worked, every pipe and what went through it, valve, electrical circuit, weapons and the power plant. They also had to know firefighting and flood control and the special hazards of each in a closed environment and in specific areas. The even had to go see Cindy to learn basic first aide. As one crewman put it, "We can't call for help, it's up to us to deal with whatever happens."

It wasn't going to take days to learn all about this ship, but months. No one was exempt from learning either. Even Cindy, who was the medic and spend her time in sick bay and inspecting food quality and cleanliness of the galley and crew's mess, had to learn the entire submarine from stem to stern. Between standing watches and studying the ship, the crew had no time for anything else.

.

The place Catherine picked for them to pull into was the last place one would expect to see ships docked. Normally, ports were up rivers or inside large bays with fairly flat land in the area. This area was tall, steep cliffs. The narrow channel in the split of the cliffs wasn't much wider than the Alaska. After slowly making their way in into the tight space, it did open up to show a small bay, just big enough for a couple tugboats to turn them around. Overhead, a ceiling had been built from cliff to cliff. It was all but an underground base.

They tied up to pinions set in the rock. The ten foot wide floating dock was tethered by cables in the same manner. At the far end, a few of John's hydrogen generators kept the air cleaners, lights, and de-salinization plant running. An elevator and stairs went up the side of the cliff to get to the surface.

Although the setup was impressive, John was sure most of it wasn't going to survive if an earthquake hit.

Everyone was relieved to finally get off the boat, especially the crew, who had been holed up inside for the last nine months. Ten of the original crew stayed on board with the 'newbies' to form a watch section, the others went out to look around, then ten more came back to the one who'd been on watch could escape the boat for a few hours.

Walking down the brow, which was a simple ramp to the dock, John noted only one other small ship was in this base. Captain Booker, John and Cameron went to the elevator to get lifted up into a tunnel. A room off to the side held a long table, hung a large world map on one wall beside a map of North America.

"Hello, Captain, Generals," Mrs. Weaver said. "John, your plan seems to have disrupted Sky Net rather well. Walter, AI-3 just came back, it has detected nothing of Sky Net communications."

"Fantastic. We still have more work to do," John agreed. "To cover the globe, we need to launch three more missiles. Captain Booker here also needs more crew."

Catherine nodded to Booker and said, "I have been arraigning that. I have twenty human volunteers and five TX's to help crew your ship. They have been learning bare basics of the Alaska, but will need much more training."

"They will get it. Thank you Mrs. Weaver," Captain Booker said with a smile.

Catherine then turned to John and said, "While you were underway, I got a signal from Pete, AI-1, my destroyer. It found a freighter headed for Northern Washington State. It moved to intercept and the freighter launched H/K's at it. It shot them down and was sunk in the process. It did sink the freighter before it went down. At least one freighter of Sky Net forces has been stopped."

"We may not be winning yet, but we're holding our own," John noted. "Any word from Derek?"

"Yes, the Nevada factory is nearing completion. Sky Net did send forces against him. Derek had to fall back, but is holding just east of Las Vegas. He wants the Fifth Cavalry back, as well as reinforcements," Catherine explained.

"He'll get them," John promised. "Have any TX's for him?"

"I do. Fifteen will be send along with 20 more Stugs," Catherine told him. "These Stugs you designed are turning out to be very efficient weapons against anything we've seen yet from Sky Net. I do strongly suggest an increase in protection. Side on to an enemy, they are more vulnerable. Plasma shots can penetrate low on the hull, between the wheels. I am working on an armor system to make them less vulnerable to side shots."

"Do you best," John Said. "Will Derek's factory be making them?"

"With the last reserves of coltan Sky Net's minions had collected," Catherine said. "We will need to find a source to make our own. The largest deposits in the Congo already have mines, if you can find a way to get there."

"An African assault," John said vacantly. "If the mines are there, I am sure Sky Net is too. We don't have the resources to take something like that on."

"John?" Cameron asked, "Sky Net will not expect us to attack Africa."

John smiled and said, "I know, that's why we must. We just have to figure out how to do it."

"General, what if we hit the area with low air bursts. That should stop them from mining," Captain Booker said.

John shook his head. "No, first of all, it would be a wasted effort, Sky Net would just send in more terminators. Second, that would create more radiation. We don't want to do that. We do high altitude bursts to screw up Sky Net comms. Since we can't take out the satellites, we take out what can receive Satellite comms." John told him.

"So we continue to carpet the globe with high air bursts," Captain Booker said.

"Right, when you get your men and supplies, head out and finish what we started. After that, take a run down the east coast of the US. Try to get some intel, but keep yourselves hidden. I suspect Sky Net is sending more forces here. If you see a ship you can identify as belonging to Sky Net, feel free to torpedo it. When you do, get the hell out of there deep and fast before they find you."

To Catherine, John said, "We're going back to Delta bunker and discuss invading Africa. There has to be a way to do it and at least shut down those mines, if not take them over."

.

John and Cameron went back, they stopped by the caverns to see Daniel and Claire. Daniel was upset Cindy had 'ran off' to join the army, Claire was just very sad she did.

Sitting down with Claire at the Way Point station restaurant, Cameron explained to her that Cindy was now a medic on the USS Alaska, and fairly safe. Although Cameron herself didn't like it, she explained to Claire it was what Cindy had to do to help defeat Sky Net.

While Cameron spent some time with Claire, John went to see his mother.

"Hi, mom," John said, coming into Sarah's office.

Sarah looked up, then got up and greeted him with a hug. "So, how did it go? People keep wanting news, and you're nowhere to be found," Sarah said in a half-scold.

John sat down in the chair across from her desk. propping his elbows on the desk, he said, "Better that I expected. The deep snow helped us. Terminators get stuck in deep snow, so a few, we just blew by. We got to Bremerton, got rid of the majority of Sky Net units there, sunk their supply ship and got a fully functional SSBN." Seeing Sarah eye him curiously, he said, "The USS Alaska, and it had a full compliment of missiles. Part of the crew was there, so we got it off the bottom and out to sea. We covered the Asian continent pretty good with high air bursts to cut Sky Net communications. Captain Booker will soon be on his way to cover the rest of the planet, making Sky Net reactions much slower all over the planet. I don't know if that will force Sky Net to stay in one place. I'm hoping so."

"Very good, John." Sarah replied. "We are getting more refugees Derek is finding. Most of them are at the factory he's making, helping out. Some have joined his army. I sent a few people with seed to grow food and a tunnel construction crew to help him expand. Last report, Derek has expanded into Utah and New Mexico. He is facing a few strong attempts by Sky Net at him, but has defeated them. Even with the losses Bedell took, we're up to 203,000 people, 32,500 in the army."

"That's good. We're keeping Sky Net away, and saving more people," John said.

"So, where's Tin Miss?"

John jerked a thumb over his shoulder and said, "She's seeing Claire Young. Their adopted daughter, Cindy, ran off and joined the army. Cameron wasn't happy about that, but it was Cindy's choice. I imagine Daniel and Claire aren't too happy with her either."

"I imagine not. About these nuclear weapons you're shooting off. Isn't that going to worsen the radiation problem?" Sarah asked.

"Nope. High air bursts only cause a powerful EMP that wipes out electronics. No radiation gets to the ground and no fallout," John explained. "We can mess up Sky Net comms and cause no further damage, radiation wise."

"And sends us back into the stone age," Sarah grumbled.

John chuckled and said, "Look where we are, mom. We're living in caves and hiding underground. We are already IN the stone age. We're just bringing Sky Net down to our level, where it is going to have a much tougher time existing."

Sarah frowned. "As long as we win," she conceded.

John then remembered he was going to bring up his and Cameron's marriage. Damn, he hoped she wasn't going to fly off the wall. He braced himself and said, "Ahh, mom? There is something else I have to tell you."

Sarah grew a smirk and said, "You married Tin Miss."

"Not yet," he said quickly, then paused and asked, "How did you know we're going to marry?"

Eyeing him, Sarah said, "When I get a message that the 'generals Connor,' John and Cameron, defeated Sky Net in Washington state, I figured you already did."

John winced. "I kinda… didn't think when I introduced Cam," he said sheepishly.

Sarah rubbed her forehead and said, "I saw it coming, John. I have to admit, Cameron is the best at taking care of you, so I can't complain too much."

"Thanks for understanding, Mom. So, are you coming to the wedding?"

.

Derek wasn't doing bad. He'd lost some ground when Sky Net sent an army after him, but with the shifting battlefield, his troops had given much more than they took. Even the 20 MM armed Stugs proved they could lay waste to a field of terminators, most of which were still using regular guns. He'd had a few reports of Terminators, and one H/K tank armed with plasma weaponry. In the cold, plasma also wasn't as effective at longer ranges. Passing through the chilly air, it lost heat all the way to the target. That and with the Stugs that could run in fast, break up the Sky Net line and hit them from behind, The orderly line Sky Net used to advance was turned into chaos.

Derek also used John's idea of making fake snow forts. Seeing the big target, Sky Net terminators went for the obvious, then were hit from the sides from units hiding in the snow. Using these, and tactics his Majors made up to trick and trap Sky Net units to get rid of small pockets of terminators, Derek knew his men were doing very well against what they faced. They even found gas and ammunition for the pair of M1 tanks. With ceramic frontal armor, they were his artillery, able to shoot much farther away that the Sky Net H/K tanks could in this weather. He also had a large pile of disabled terminators - with intact chips, to send back to Weaver.

The latest train of supplies and reinforcements came. Just before the train arrived, Major Gentry and his Stugs pulled into Vegas. Derek went out to meet them. Carrying a folder, Gentry saluted Derek. "We're back, General and with great news. Sky Net had been removed from the west coast," he said proudly. Handing Derek the folder he added, "General Connor has new orders for us."

Derek returned his salute and eyed the folder. "We're to take back the US?" he guessed.

"I'll let you read it, General. I'd say he's crazy, but, so far, crazy is working well for us," Gentry said with a grin.

Derek snorted and looked at the orders inside and read them aloud. "Increase scouting and searching for survivors. Search and destroy every Sky Net unit possible. Mark factories fit for possible production, army depots and when possible, scout to the Mississippi." He paused and said, "Yeah, he's nuts. This is a tall order, but we'll do our best."

"We got more Stugs and TX's coming too with the supply train," Gentry told him.

"Good, with this order, we need all the reinforcements we can get," Derek grumbled. "Split your Fifth into A and B. Tomorrow, you go out hunting for Sky Net units. Don't bite off more than you can chew."

"Fourteen units each," Gentry said. "Can we get a couple of those replacements?"

"Once I see everything we're getting, I'll let you know. Shouldn't be a problem," Derek said. "Plan on moving out due east, you can decide how far apart to put A and B groups. Just remember you're out there to hunt. If you find survivors, take care of them obviously, but I'll send people to pick them up."

"Yes , sir, I'll go tell the men," Gentry said. He saluted and left for his unit.

Not long after Gentry left, Captain Baker came in. "General, the train arrived. The supplies are being loaded and the reinforcements are waiting for assignments."

"How many did we get?"

"20 Stugs, 5200 men and women, 15 TX's."

Derek nodded in approval and said, "Send ten of the TX's, two Stugs and …a thousand men to Major Gentry. He's going hunting for Sky net units. The rest will be in Major Jacobson's division. The Major can decide how he wants to split them up."

"Yes, Sir."

Derek went back to his command truck to look at the vast area he had to cover. He decided to move his picket forward and north. John had gone through Idaho already, so he decided to have Jacobson send a force up there to see what Sky Net was around. With the depth of snow, and John's report of Terminators being stuck, immobile in the snow, he figured Montana had buried Terminators, if any were up there. Pushed east seemed to be the best option.

His door opened and shut, a female voice said, "General Reese, Sir, I was assigned as your assistant and personal guard."

Derek turned to look and his jaw dropped. All he could do was stare. He pulled the picture out of his pocket to be sure this was who he thought it was. He slipped the picture back in as he gaped at her. "Laura?" he asked weakly.

Laura beamed him a smile. "Yes sir, how did you know my name?"

Derek sat down, not taking his stare off her. Luckily, he hit the chair when he fell into it.


	11. Chapter 11

CH 11

In Derek's Command truck, the brunette woman in a resistance uniform watched Derek closely and asked, "Sir, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, still staring at her.

She frowned slightly and said, "You don't look fine. You're pale and seem disoriented. I'll go get a doctor for you,"

That woke Derek up some. He tore his eyes off her. "No! I'm fine, honest. Ahh, yeah, I'm a little … disoriented. It'll pass." he then grumbled, "Quicker if I had a beer."

In a soothing tone, Laura said, "I have learned that people who used to drink or smoke have a hard time adjusting to not having those things any more. It's like John Henry, who sorely misses the internet do discover things on. It is hard for you now, but it will get better with time," she explained.

"Matter of option," he said vacantly, he said, not looking at her. "Why did you say you're here?"

"I have been assigned as your personal assistant and guard," Laura explained. "Being so close to Sky Net forces, it would be a tragedy for this army and the resistance if you were lost. I can spot Terminators from a distance, even if they do visually look like humans."

"Yeah, I suppose you can," Derek said in agreement. "You got two plasma canons in your arms, don't you?"

"One in each arm," Laura said. "You are familiar with the TX model?" she asked.

Derek coughed , "You could say that," he told her. "I just wasn't expecting a … personal assistant. " Or his future daughter's mother to waltz into his command truck.

"Major Jacobson said it's vital you be kept safe," Laura said.

"Yeah, suppose he did," Derek agreed. Right, so now he had his own drop-dead gorgeous metal to guard him. Worse yet, he knew how this was going to turn out. He needed some air. Gathering his wits, he got up and said, "Could you go let Major Gentry and Major Jacobson know I'm going to check on the factory?"

"Yes, sir," Laura said and departed.

Derek watched her go. Damn that was a fine ass on top of those legs! He then said to the floor, "I really could use a beer right now."

.

Laura found both men and relayed where General Reese was going to the factory to check on things there, then hurried back to the command truck. She noted General Reese get into an SUV, and ran over to get in the other side.

"I informed both Majors of your intentions, General," Laura said. Seeing him stare at her again, she added, "General I do think you could use the services of a doctor."

"I'm fine," he said, turning to look straight ahead. He started the SUV and headed off.

"I can drive," Laura offered.

"I got it," he said, looking out the windshield.

Laura brought up the things she learned and tried to conclude why General Reese was acting so odd. When he saw her, he'd stared for a while and all but fell into a chair. He had her go on an errand, then tried to leave before she got back. His pulse was up, he was breathing was higher that normal. He claimed he wasn't sick, but he was acting oddly.

He glanced at her and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"Why did you stare at me?" she asked in return.

"I was … surprised to see you," he stated.

Having some experience with humans, Laura knew he wasn't telling the whole truth by his pause. His vitals also climbed a bit. "You are acting odd because of me," she concluded aloud. "Why?"

He frowned and said, "Look, I just never … have been around a TX before, OK? It's going to take some time to get used to you."

Again, he wasn't telling the whole truth. The General was hiding something. "You've never seen a TX before?" she asked.

"No," he said firmly, which she could tell was an outright lie.

To try and sooth him, she said, "Please understand I am loyal to the resistance. I know we're fighting Sky Net so machines don't become slaves and humans won't be exterminated. You haven't seen a TX what was controlled by Sky Net, have you?"

"I haven't. I don't think Sky Net has TX's … yet. They barely have T-800's. Yes, the form is there, but so far, they are made of inferior materials," Derek explained. "I'm hoping we can get rid of Sky Net before they upgrade their terminators."

"That is the same information I have," Laura said. "John Henry expects the coltan terminators to start being produced in another year to year and a half. He is a very smart AI. Have you met John Henry?"

"No. I know of him. Never met him." Derek replied.

"John Henry is a pleasant fellow. He has good friends too!" Laura said happily. "I met Savannah, she's the human girl who is Mrs. Weaver's daughter. He also told me about John Connor and Cameron. They are his friends too. Have you met them?" Laura asked.

"I know Cameron," Derek said in a huff. "John's my nephew."

Laura tipped her head slightly. "You don't like Cameron?" she asked.

Derek frowned and said, "Let's just say we have a history. For a while, if there was bad news, Cameron was there. She also seems to love destroying any vehicle I have. We really don't get along too well."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I heard Cameron is one of the most advanced AI's there is. I am eager to meet her," Laura said cheerfully.

"No surprise there," Derek said in a huff. "Look, Laura, This is round two for me, fighting Sky Net I mean. I came from a previous future where there was no Mrs. Weaver, no Terminator, human alliance. Where I came back from, it was humans versus terminators, period. All terminators were the enemy. I hated them. When Cameron came back in time, I hated her. So, please excuse me if I have a tough time … adjusting to this new reality. Not that it's bad, I mean, we seem to be doing much better. Still, I am not real comfortable with it."

Laura was quiet for a moment, then said, "I understand, General. I am asking you to trust me to do my best for you, and believe in our alliance. I am new, just out of school, so please help me learn how to make our union more pleasant."

"What?" Derek asked, snapping his head to gape at her.

Seeing he was staring at her and a turn was coming up, Laura grabbed the wheel and made the turn. When they were settled on the road and not in a tall snow bank, she let go. "Did I use the wrong words?" she asked. "Don't we have a union between free AI's and Humans?"

Derek got himself together and kept driving, now focusing on the road. "Ahhh yeah, we do," he said, feeling his face warm. "Just never head it called that before," he offered. That wasn't the union he thought she was implying.

"How do you describe our relationship?"

"Just working together for a common cause," Derek said with a shrug. "I'm new to this arraignment."

"Yes, You are new to how thing are now, and I am new. Perhaps we can teach each other?" Laura asked.

Derek sported a slight grin. "Yeah, Ok, we can teach each other."

Laura found Derek was telling the truth now that he seemed a little more comfortable with her. Still she had to wonder about his odd behavior. He knew her name and the fact she had plasma cannons, and admitted to knowing about TX's, but had never seen one before. That didn't make sense. She wanted to find out why.

.

Derek drove to the Groom Lake facility where a few planes were in hangers, being modified to run on hydrogen. John was trying to make an air force. So far it looked like they had a P-51, and two single prop planes he'd never seen before that had chain guns in the nose and missile pylons under the wings.

Going into the underground facility, Derek and Laura got a golf cart ride through the tunnels to the factory that was looking more like a town with a factory in it. They even had a long room that was brightly lit and pans of dirt that was going to be a garden. Another room was dark and held long rows of mushrooms being grown. OK so that was why he was eating mushrooms at every meal. The factory itself was all but finished. A few Stugs were under construction, and a pile of destroyed T-400's was supplying the metal to make them.

While Derek was looking at the progress of the factory, Laura noted a man watching a woman work. The stare he was giving her was very similar to the stare General Reese had been giving her.

"General," she asked, touching his arm to get his attention. "Why is that man staring at that woman?"

Derek looked over and let out a snort. "Probably has the hots for her," he said.

"What is the hots?"

Explaining, Derek said, "It means he really likes her, most likely thinks she's very pretty."

Thinking back on how the General acted when he first saw her, Laura asked, "Will he stumble into things while he stares at her?"

Derek laughed. "Most likely," he said with a grin. "Probably won't tell her so."

"I see," Laura said, gazing at him. "Will he want to be friends with her?"

"More than friends, I imagine," Derek said a he looked at the crane system.. "Most likely, he wants to take her to bed."

"Have sex," Laura concluded.

"Yeah, that's why boys and girls usually go to bed together." Derek said, eyeing the forge where the Stug wheels were being made. It was a fairly good setup, they had five molds now. Pouring five at a time.

"General Reese! Good to see you!" A man said happily as he approached.

"Hey, Harry. How's it coming with those snow cats?" Derek asked.

"Great, we're finishing up a couple. Let me show you."

Following the men, Laura decided General Reese had 'the hots' for her. She'd also noted something else when she'd entered his command vehicle. He had pulled something out of his pocket and glanced at it, right before he fell back into a chair. She didn't know for sure, but she had the idea he was comparing her to a picture. That made her curious. If it was a picture, what was on the picture?

Laura followed them to a long, wider vehicle that was close to the same style as a Stug. It was low and had wide tracks, but there was no turret or gun on it.

"These will hold twenty people," the man told the General. "Initial testing is coming out well. The heater melts snow, and the side scoops here will bring snow into the water compartments as the vehicle moves, so fewer stops to shovel. It moves over the snow at 55 miles an hour with a full load, 67 empty. You want these to pick up survivors, right? I made a storage compartment in the back for medical kits and other stuff. The seats are five wide, four long, plus the driver and a passenger seat."

"These will be real handy," Derek said. "I'm sending out parties to look for more survivors, and these will be more comfortable for any we find instead of riding on top of a Stug. Good work, Harry." Derek then shook the man's hand.

Laura had seen the deactivate terminators waiting to get loaded on the train to take back to Mrs. Weaver so she could free them from Sky Net. Here, the General was working to find surviving humans. She decided she liked General Reese. He was a little odd, but he was a good man. She really wanted to see what was in his pocket. Maybe that was part of why he acted oddly.

.

John sat puzzling over the coltan mines in the Congo. In the middle if friggin Africa, there was no way he could defend those mines so far away even if he did gather a force to attack it and managed to get them all the way there. Having no idea what was there now, he'd be sending men in blind and praying for success. Not a way to win. There was even the question of how to keep in contact with them.

OK, first they would need to scout the area out and find out who and what was there. Even to do that was going to be a monumental task. They did have a submarine, but it had a more important job to do. Until he had some inspiration, or something happened to change things, he could not spend all his time worrying about a Congo invasion.

Where survivors might be was another of John's priorities. Mammoth Caves were a good possibility, and places in the eastern mountain states all had caves in them. They were no where near those places. Also, anyone smart would have their entrance covered up and minimize their activity on the surface.

"General," Major Crammer said as he came into John's office. "The snow is getting too deep for our air intakes. Men shovel it out, but it's becoming obvious they are there. I was thinking to run a tunnel through the snow, out to someplace away from the bunker to bring air in."

"It's not vital now to stay completely hidden," John replied. "There's not a Sky Net force anywhere near us. Keep shoveling the intakes clear, and think had about how to disguise them. Don't rush it."

"All this snow is a pain in our ass," Crammer grumbled.

John chuckled and said "It' a worse pain for Sky Net, they have a hard time moving in it, so don't be too upset at the snow."

"At lest we haven't had any recently, and the temperature's dropping again. It's a whole 12 degrees outside."

"Yeah, nuclear winter sucks," John agreed. "How's the food and water holding out?"

"Pretty good, we're using most of the flow from the river, but there's still enough flow to keep the generator turning. Mary damn near has a jungle down in the gardens. Keeps the goats fed and the bees making honey. I sent another thousand men out to Derek, we've seen nothing here, and men want to fight, not sit on their asses. I still have 3500 available here. Some are digging tunnels. Others transport goods back and forth with the caverns."

"Transport," John said to himself. He looked at the Africa map.

"Sir?"

"Coltan is in the Congo. To get it to a factory, Sky Net has to transport it," John said. "Over land it would take a long time. If they get it to the coast, a ship would be more efficient." Looking up at Crammer, he said, "We don't go after the mines. We let Sky Net do the work to get it onto the ships, then steal the ships!"

Crammer eyed him and said, "The Congo is in Africa, how do we get someone all the way there?"

'Still working on that," John admitted.

.

John did work on it. Submarines seemed the best choice. Before nuclear powered submarines, they were diesel powered. Yes, they had to come to the surface often to recharge batteries, but if they used hydrogen, they could intake water from the sea and stay under for longer periods of time. To use those, they needed to get to the Atlantic ocean. The nearest place to do that was Texas. Derek had already send scouts into Arizona and a bit of New Mexico. John made a message to Derek to concentrate on getting to the gulf coast in Texas. They needed an eastern port.

.

Major Gentry had his screen of Stugs out on front of each column the long line of 20 Stugs were within radio distance of each other. The other ten , five on each column, towed the extra sleds and and had the TX's riding on top as lookouts. They went through Nevada finding nothing. Getting to Utah, they moved slower, and bore south to avoid the taller mountains. Feeling their way along, they closed up to drive through valleys They searched, and didn't find a single Sky Net radio signal or did they visually sight anything.

For all the Sky Net machinery that was thrown at Jacobson, Gentry was beginning to think Sky Net had used everything it had in the area in an attempt to break their line.

Gentry opened his hatch. "Bob, how are you doing up there?" he asked the TX on the roof

The TX replied, "I am fine, thank you for asking. There is no sign of any Sky Net machines, nor humans. I have seen some animals. Upon noticing us, they ran away."

"Expected," Gentry told him.

The radio announced, "This is Captain Jensen, A group, we got movement and heat coming from a hillside! I'm in the second valley from center."

"B group, standby, A group, close on Captain Jensen," Gentry ordered of the radio.

"I'm on it," the driver announced and turned toward Jensen's radio signal.

As they were moving toward the valley, Bob knocked on the hatch. Gentry opened it. "Yes, Bob?"

"I have detected tracks and trails not made by our forces in the hills we are proceeding towards. Some appear to be deeper tracks made by terminators, others are lighter, but larger tracks I determined are human. The human tracks appear to congregate near the place Captain Jensen's Stug is parked."

"Thank you, Bob," Gentry told him, "Keep watch on that point." On the radio, Gentry said, "We have a possible human habitation, bring up the A group reserves. Scouts, form a ring around the first hill to the left of the second valley."

Gentry's A group moved up the hillside where coming close, they could see there was signs of previous movement. Gentry had his Stug and the reserve force climb up the hill to the mouth of what looked like an abandon mine. Parked outside the entrance, which was closed up by fallen timbers, the snow packed down led to the narrow space to get inside.

Gentry got out and called loudly, "Medical teams, standby! TX's and third squad, dismount! Bring lights, we're going to into this mine."

The teams had just collected when a form clad in a light colored blanket peeked out of the entrance.

"The army, thank God!" a woman's weak voice cried. She pulled the blanket off her head to show only patches of her dark hair were left. "Please help us!"

"Medics!" Gentry called and flung an arm to motion to them.

Gentry was expecting to find a family, or two. His men went into find a few families here, and the deeper into the mine they went, the more ragged, sick people they found. They all were starved and many were close to dying from dehydration and exposure. Many of the smaller children were already still and cold, their bodies frozen.

There were so many, Gentry called B Group in to help. He also had a pair of Stugs to go back to base get more help. So far, they had found 300 people, and the deeper Gentry's men went, the more people they found.

By the time Derek's line of Stugs pulling sleds and the new personnel carriers arrived, Gentry's men had found 10,000 people stuffed into this old mine.

.

Derek frowned at the frozen bodies being pulled out of the mine to be lined and stacked up for burial. Too many were small children. All the medics were inside, with men passing out light food and warmed water to help get people's temperature up as well as hydrate them. Sobs sounded here and there throughout the mines as well as words of thanks. A woman cried as her baby was taken out to be added to the pile outside.

"This is so sad," Laura said as she handed Derek a cup.

"Yeah," Derek said tightly, and took a drink. Noticing a TX stir the water with his finger before he gave it to a man huddled in blankets, he asked, "Why did he stir the water before he gave it to that guy?"

"He put some of his nanites in the water. They are not DNA matched, but the nanites will help remove the radiation from his body," Laura explained.

"They do need it," Derek said vacantly. All this time, Derek had grumbled about the work they had to do to 'build' the bunkers , tunnel systems and caverns, then living in them. Seeing these people, Derek now considered what John had build the equivalent of paradise. These people didn't have any food or clean water, and they were half frozen to death. Well, the ones frozen and dead so far were only 486, while there were over 600 alive and being helped, and thousands they had yet to get to. So, not quite half had died, yet.

There just wasn't enough room in these tunnels to get help to those people yet.

Derek drank the water Laura gave him as he pondered how to get to those down deeper, faster.

"General, you didn't have to come here, this is our farthest point of advance, Sky Net could be close by," Laura said.

"I did," Derek told her as he watched some men carry out a few more frozen bodies.

When he heard about people in mines, his first thought was this might become another base. Now, he just wanted to get those still alive out, and dynamite the long tomb shut.

"Laura, could you go deeper and see if there is any place down here there are no people?"

Laura replied, "I am your assistant."

Right, stuck to him like glue. "OK, then, let's go," he told her, and walked down the sloped floor, stepping around those huddled up.

Walking down past the last medics and men helping people, he and Laura entered the mines where people looked up at him and begged for help. Laura held the light over her their heads to illuminate the bleak condition of these people.

Along the way, Derek assured them that help was coming. Derek had no idea how far they had gone, but it seemed like miles.

Up ahead, voices sounded.

"Look, just open up, we've come to get you out of here."

A muffled voice yelled, "Go away! This is our space, you can't come in!"

Coming to a fork, Derek followed the voices. He came to a couple scouts in front of a wall of timbers. "What's going on here?" he asked loudly.

The soldiers turned to him. One said, "General, the people in there won't let us in."

It was odd to Derek that while the tunnels were filled with the very sick and the dead, there were men who had the strength to stand up and defy his soldiers. Derek walked up and thumped on the timbers. "Listen up in there! This is General Derek Reese, you will open this up, or I will!" he thundered. "Open it NOW!"

"Fuck you, there aint no military left, there's nothing left. Go away!"

Derek had his men move to the side. "Laura, can you get this open?" he asked.

Laura nodded and handed him the light. Stepping up to the block she pushed hard on it. The block flew back to fall. Some bits of rock from the ceiling came down on the block. From under the timber now on the floor, a man screamed. Derek strode in over the block. The man underneath let out a gasp and went quiet.

Backed up from the entrance four men held picks and shovel, raised up to defend themselves. The room they were in was about fifteen feet to a side. The back wall was filled with boxed of rations, and stacked with bottles of water.

"Git the fuck out this is ours" the man with the shovel growled.

Derek stared at them briefly, then pulled his pistol and shot all four. "Not any more," he said in a hard tone. "Men, have you found any more closed off places like this?"

"No sir. We tried to go deeper and got dizzy, so we came back up. Saw some bodies down there," he said pointing to the other fork.

Derek nodded and said, "Go back on up. See if you can find some oxygen masks. If not, no one goes down there. Make sure Major Gentry knows about this room."

"Yes, sir," one man said. The hurried back up the tunnel.

This deep into the mountain, the air was warm. Derek holster his pistol, hung the light off it and grabbed all the water bottles he could carry. "Laura, grab some boxes of food, will you?"

"Yes, sir," Laura replied. She stacked boxes on a plank, then picked the plank up. The General had come down here himself to help these people. She was proud of her General Derek Reese.

.

A full day of helping and treating people in the old mine, and they had only gotten to half of them. When there was room to move, Derek send for air cleaners and ducting and a hydrogen generator to get fresh air down into the mine, as well as a fan and ducting to get the bad air out of the deep mine. Although he'd rather leave the dead where they were, down here it was warm, and the return Message from John was to make that mine Foxtrot base. It was a strategic decision, Derek knew. He also wouldn't have to transport all these people back to Las Vegas. Steel came from Derek's factory to put a proper door on the entrance. With the door, the temperature inside the upper mine warmed up.

After three solid days of getting people assistance, Derek sat down 'just for a moment'. Laura stayed where she could see him and made sure he wasn't bothered. Watching him sleep as she gave a family nanites in their water. She looked back at the General again, then sat down beside him. Curiosity got the better of her. Carefully, she slipped her fingers into the pocket that held the picture. Carefully pulling it out, she looked at the image and it was her turn to stare.

It was a picture of her.

Uniform jacket hanging open and sticking her tongue out at whoever was taking the picture while she carried a supply bag in one hand, she looked relaxed. She was a little dirty too.

This was not possible! Laura herself had never been in a situation like this. She did not recognize the surroundings either. She studied the form to verify dimensions and eye color. Even a look-alike would not match her dimensions so perfectly. It was her in this picture, but if she had never been in that place, then how could a picture be taken of her there? She studied the pixels, yes, this was an original photo, no modifications. It was real, but it couldn't be.

Laura's electronic brain searched for an answer to this dilemma. Why would General Reese be holding onto a picture of her? Searching through her conversations with him, she found a few clues.

She knew he was lying when he said he'd never seen a TX before.

He had been in shock upon seeing her. He'd even looked at this picture as if verifying it was her. He had tried to leave without her. This was, as he put it, his 'second round' fighting a war with Sky Net. Laura knew Mrs. Weaver had come back from the future to stop Sky Net from destroying the world, and said there were others who came back also. Yes, General Reese had come back from the future also.

If Mrs. Weaver was making TX's for the first time, then how could Laura possibly have been there during their first war? Laura knew humans carried pictures if important people with them, their loved ones. That meant General Reese held her as important to him long before he met her, or even before she was made, at least in this reality. That was another hole in this train of logic.

The General groaned and moved. Laura popped her eyes up at him to see he was shifting to get comfortable. She also saw his eyes open and look right at her, holding the picture of her.

His eyes came open wider. What are you doing?" he asked firmly.

Laura did the only thing she could think of and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Derek slapped a hand to his face and sat up. He rubbed his face, and asked in a grumble, "Do you always go through people's pockets?"

"No," Laura said simply. "I noted when you first saw me, that you looked at this. I was curious what it was. General, where did you get it?"

Derek sat back and let out a long sigh. "OK, I have it so I would recognize you when I saw you. Frankly, I never thought it would happen," he admitted.

"Yes, the shock you showed when you saw me," Laura said. "But, where did this picture come from?"

"Can't tell you," he replied. He plucked the picture from her grasp and put it back into his pocket.

Laura tipped her head slightly. "Why not?"

Derek stared at the far wall and said, "I really, really need a beer right now."

"I'm sorry, there isn't any," Laura told him.

"Can we please just forget you saw it?" Derek asked in a pleading tone.

"No, it is in my memory, I can't un-see it," Laura stated.

"Well, neither can I," Derek grumbled. Seeing Laura watching him, he added, "Someone … close to us, from our future gave it to me. That's all I can tell you."

"Does anyone else in this reality know about this picture?" Laura asked. "Did the person who gave this to you know I was going to be your assistant?"

Derek opened his mouth to answer, and quickly said "I can't tell you."

"You like having my picture?" Laura asked quickly.

"Yes, but I can't tell you where it came from," Derek stated. He then paused and said, "I ahh, kept it to recognize you, as I said."

He knew her now, so there was no more reason to keep it, yet he did. Laura had previously concluded that General Reese did like her. The fact he liked holding her picture told her he considered her as an important person to him.

Derek changed the subject and asked, "How are we doing with these people?"

"They are all very weak, but with food, water and warmer, radiation free air being supplied, as well as nanites in the water, they are beginning to recover. 6, 341 people are alive and being helped the number of dead are…"

"Don't tell me!" Derek quickly said, interrupting her. "I just want to know how the live people are doing." He got up and stretched out some kinks. Glancing at her, he said, "Sorry, it's just depressing hearing about the number of dead."

"I understand."

"Let's go find Major Gentry and Major Jacobson," Derek said.

Laura got up and went with him. She was disappointed that the General wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know about that picture. From what she had seen of him so far, she was sure he had a reason for not doing so. Maybe someone else would tell her.

.

Derek found Major Jacobson near the entrance that was now dig out to the sides to make a room. "Where are we at?" he asked as he came in.

Jacobson said, "With these people, we got the dead out, and everyone inside seems to be a little stronger. The mine itself is old, but stable. It used to be a silver mine, and was tapped out. It won't be a large base, but we can make it large enough to hold the people here in a little better comfort, and leave a garrison of troops here. For the bigger picture, scouts are still finding nothing of Sky Net. The area is verified clear for two hundred miles in every direction. Either they are gone, or they are hearing our radio chatter and retreating to form up with more units from the east to try and overcome us. The tracks in the snow we're finding are weeks old, at the least. Most head off to the south, only single tracks go north into the town, or west. I have gotten word from General Connor."

"Let's hear it, Derek said.

"We are to focus our search and destroy mission into Texas to the gulf coast. We need a gulf port as soon as we can get one. Found or built," Jacobson said.

Derek nodded and said, "Makes sense. Get a port, make some ships and we can attack Sky Net on the east coast and up the Mississippi. Where's Gentry?"

"With his A Group, they should be returning from a sweep west in an hour or two."

"Got a map?"

.

Derek plotted out the most direct route to get to Texas. Southeast would get them into Mew Mexico, then angling through that state, the would have another long drive through Texas to the gulf coast. It would take weeks, and if they met Sky Net unit along the way, even longer. Derek was concerned about being stretched out so thin, but it was doable. With Gentry scouting and Jacobson backing him up. Even leaving men to garrison their bases, they had a decent chance of doing it.

"Have we been in that town these people came from?" Derek asked.

"Yes, sir, Gentry's B group searched it. The town itself wasn't hit and we did find supplies there. They took everything useful, including tools and building material, and a few vehicles. Sky Net had gone through and took most of the vehicles. We think they are scavenging metal to make more terminators."

"Most likely. Send the passenger vehicles back to Las Vegas and get supplies for us. We'll leave the supplies here for the people. Leave a tunneling crew with the garrison. When our supplies get here, we'll move on." Derek told him.

"Yes Sir."

Watching the General, Laura noted he needed more rest. "General, you should lie down for a while," she told him.

"I took a nap," he reminded her.

"You passed out," Laura stated. "You need more rest to keep your head clear."

'And it's starting already', Derek thought.

.

Major Gentry got a call from 3rd squad, they had picked up Sky Net comms up ahead. Not one but a constant chatter of what they guessed were three locations. Then a Stug from Second squad came flying over the snow to meet them. Parking beside Gentry's Stug the commander opened his hatch. Gentry did also.

"Major, there's a big sky Net installation up ahead," the man said as he pointed. We went radio dark and closed in to get a peek. It's damn near city sized, and it looks like it's got at least one factory in it. It's 115 miles that way, you can follow my tracks back to it, Sir."

"Where's the test of your squad?" Gentry asked.

"Captain has them sitting still just behind a ridge, watching and making sure they don't come this way. Sir, I've never seen so many of those Terminators, they got gun emplacements on the walls as well as those H/K tanks. We didn't see any flying H/K's but still covered our Stugs with snow, just in case."

"Give me details. What kind of walls are we talking here?" Gentry asked.

"Tall. Concrete, we think. Outside the walls there's thick barbed wire and a long ditch. They are dug in place, Sir, all the snow has been cleared out a hundred yards all around the outside of the place."

Gentry told him, "Go back and tell your Captain to keep reporting. Your route in and out is secure?"

"Yes, Sir, kinda windy, but we kept to the low ground approaching it, Sir."

Gentry waved him on and said, "Get going."

"Yes Sir," the man replied, got back in his hatch. The Stug turned around and went back the way he came.

.

Word of the Sky Net installation went back to Derek, who immediately sent back for more information, as much as they could get without being seen. Derek noted where it was, just inside Colorado. He returned to Vegas and sent what he knew back to John and let him know they were investigating.

.

Receiving this news, John became nervous. This wasn't catching Sky Net by surprise, they were ready and waiting with who knew how many units. In his office, he looked at the map, and his resources.

"If there is a factory there, there is also a work camp," Cameron stated from beside him.

John had to agree. "By the size of it, it was started right at the beginning of this war," John said, speaking as he thought. "This is too big for just Derek's troops. Bedell is scattered all over the western states, those are the only two large armies we have."

"Catherine has twelve H/K's , four more in the process of being made," Cameron added.

"The air units could scout and do some damage," Cameron offered.

"And get shot down," John said with a snort. "With all that equipment, I'm sure Sky Net is going to strike hard at whatever comes close to that place." He then grew a grin.

Cameron eyed him and tipped her head slightly. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

"We've been moving east, Sky Net has to be expecting us to come from the west. It knows we're here, but not where. I am sure it is sending reinforcements to search us out," he explained.

"Yes, that is logical," Cameron agreed. "Their base is far back from where they think we are so they can get a strong force together to come after us."

John said. "Getting in there is going to be hard. Our Stugs are not made to attack fortifications, they are made for fast strikes on open ground, and we do need to get to the gulf coast," John added in a mussing tone. "Sky Net wants to find us, so we let them. Send for General Bedell, have him bring 30 Stugs and as many men with plasma rifles and TX's as he can spare."

"You have a plan, John?"

"I do, I'll have it firmed up by the time Martin gets here. I also want to send a message to Derek and talk to Catherine," John told her. Looking up at Cameron, he said, Timing in this battle is going to be vital."

.

While John was planning his attack, Captain Booker was moving into position for his attack. The ice sheets over the southern Pacific near Antarctica were growing thick. It was also the quickest, stealthy route to the Indian ocean. He had thought about going around the tip of South America, but the TX that was his acting as his XO, told him if Sky Net has ships, the chance was 82% that Sky Net would be waiting for him there.

So, they had gone south west, slipping under the ice near Australia and coming out of it in the southern Indian ocean. The ice above was clearing, and they had detected nothing on sonar.

"Scope up," Captain Booker said. At 200 feet, he raised the scope to get a look at the surface Above them and to the port side was the edge of an ice floe. Ahead and to the starboard side was clear. "Planesmen, made your depth 100 feet, four degree up angle on the ship, zero once you hit 100 feet." he announced.

"Coming up to 100 feet at four degree up angle," came the reply.

Booker watched the water around them as they rose. The edge of the ice floe was getting farther away. He called out, "Navigation, range to the farthest target."

"5,800 miles, Captain."

It was tempting to come to periscope depth and take a visual look around. If there was radar present, that would give them away. They were in range, and nothing but water above them. "Helm, slow to three knots, take the ship to 150 feet, prepare to launch tubes 5, 6, 7, and 8"

On the Conn, Booker watched the speed decline. They came down to depth and the speed dropped to 3 knots. He raised the scope again to get another look around and above them. No ice, nothing visible. "Helm all stop, hover the ship at 150."

"Coming to all stop, maintaining one five zero," the helm replied.

The speaker over him spoke. "Weapons in tubes 5, 6, 7, 8 targeted and ready, Captain, awaiting order to launch."

He keyed his mike. "Standby …" He watched the ships speed drop to zero, then said, "Weapons officer, verify ships position and launch."

There was compete silence, then the speaker said, "Ship's position verified, targeting updated, launching tube 5."

The ship shuddered and bounced.

"Tube five away, launching tube 6..."

After tube 8 was away, Booker announced, "Helm, ahead full, Planesmen, make your depth 900 feet, twenty degree down angle. Change course to 045."

"Changing course to 045."

"Diving to 900 feet, twenty degree down angle."

Booker held on as the deck tipped sharply. As they passed 500 feet sonar announced, "Splash detected off the port side …. Torpedo in the water!"

"Planes men, level out, launch countermeasures, torpedo room, launch Sub simulator, set course for 180." Booker ordered. He waited as these were carried out.

"Sonar detecting pings from the torpedo, range 3400 yards and closing, Torpedo is drawing left … Torpedo closing to 2800 yards, still drawing left, Ping rate increasing, torpedo speed increasing, Torpedo is passing astern …"

Everyone was holding their breath as sonar reported the torpedo's progress. Then the submarine shook, vibrating. A coffee cup flew out of the holder to smash on the floor.

"Torpedo detonation, approximately 1200 yards astern." Sonar reported.

The sigh of relief from everyone was audible.

"Helm, slow to five knots, Planesmen, dive to 600 feet," Booker said.

Sonar then announced, "Splash detected astern … No prop noise…"

Booker though it was a dud torpedo.

"Captain! That could be a nuclear depth charge!" the TX announced.

Unlike hiding from a torpedo, where depth was your friend, a nuke device was the opposite. The deeper they were, then harder the pressure wave was going to hit them.

"Thirty degree up angle, ahead flank! Come up to periscope depth!" Booker commanded.

The ship tipped up and pointed it's nose at the surface as it moved faster to get shallow. Where the torpedo's explosion made the surface, an AI missile detected it and dove to splash down on the same point. It dove down to 400 feet and detonated the nuke on board.

The compression wave raced at the Alaska to hit it with an equivalent of 9600 pounds per square inch of pressure. When the compression wave hit, the Alaska deformed and buckled, then came apart. Air bubbles rose to the surface as the pieces of the Alaska sunk to the bottom.


	12. Chapter 12

CH 12

Around the table with a map of the US from the west coast to the Mississippi, John explained his plan to his Generals.

"Martin, move your troops to the northeast of this Sky Net facility. Go in as close as you can and not be discovered. You'll have the two M1-A's of Derek, so you have some long range fire power. Get to your starting place and wait. Derek, keep moving, take a wide berth around this Sky Net facility. Once you get past it, get loud with the radio traffic and keep a good rear guard. Keep destroying any Sky Net you come across. What we're looking for here is for Sky Net forces to come out and chase Derek's forces. Seeing a sizable force of resistance, I'm sure Sky Net will send out the troops to engage them. Once the Sky Net units are out and chasing Derek, give them tie to make a hundred miles, then Martin, you begin a long range bombardment with the M1's. I'm talking 2 miles away. The M1 shots will still be hitting with solid force, and the plasma rounds Sky Net uses will be diminished by the time they travel 2 miles though the cold air. You're looking to take out the turret guns on the wall. You want to open up a corridor so the Stugs can run in and batter the walls down. And do close-in damage. TX's and soldiers will charge in when you got some good holes they can get in through. Get soldiers inside, and some Stugs to run through the place and create chaos while the soldier look to blow up the power plant, then clean up any Sky Net forces they find."

"Mrs. Weaver, when Bedell is engaged, he's sure to get counterattacked by whatever forces are left in that complex. Fly your H/K's in low from the west, then pop up and work at the east side turrets from above. Derek, at the same time, turn around and attack the Sky Net units following you. If you can, get some Stugs between the Sky Net force and their base. We don't want them coming back to help."

John scanned the people around him and asked, "Questions?"

Derek rubbed a hand over his mouth and said, "We win this one, it will be big. If we loose it, we'll be fucked. We're using the majority of our strength here."

"The same risk as attacking into Washington State," Martin told him. "If we would have lost there, the entire west coast would have been open to Sky Net. From what I've seen, I don't think Sky Net believes we have any army near their Colorado base. The best time to attack is when they aren't expecting it."

Mrs. Weaver said, "Derek going around them and southeast will trigger a response. As soon as Sky Net detects him, he will be their number one target."

"Let's make sure I am," Derek stated. "I'll be telling men John Connor is with us, and 'relaying' his orders. That should get Sky Net to move their asses after us."

"Indeed," Mrs. Weaver said with a smirk. "I do have a suggestion."

John motioned to her. "Please share," he said.

"There are 50 T-800's with simple chips I made, not the AI chips, but they are combat capable. All these I planned to use for extra guards. I put an infrared beacon on them and march them in first. They get inside and General Bedell opens up with his barrage after they are in and shooting up Sky Net's terminators. They will be programmed to go after only other terminators that do not have the infrared beacon, and the wall guns," she explained.

John thought for a few seconds, then asked, "What about the TX's? Will they shoot at them?"

"Negative, TX's look visually identical to humans, these Terminators will be scanning by sight only," she explained.

"I like it," John said. "Martin?"

"The more the merrier, and a little faster to take that place down," he agreed.

"We're going to need a chain of radiomen to keep in contact," Derek said. "I'll have the rear guard drop men with radios as I go. Then we can coordinate a little better."

"Or, you can leave a force off the side, and fall in behind the Sky Net units. They can tell you when to turn back. We won't be leaving men alone in the middle of nowhere,"

John offered.

"Yeah, I do like that better," Derek agreed.

"Anyone else?" John asked. No one said anything, so he added, "Then we have our plan. We move as soon as everyone is ready."

.

Laura had come with Derek and waited outside the room to guard it with the other guards to ensure no one bothered General Reese. The meeting broke up, Mrs. Weaver came out, then Derek and John passed by. Cameron walked along behind them. Laura came up beside her. Cameron was another terminator. She wouldn't lie or evade questions.

Quietly, Laura asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

Cameron noted her very low voice wasn't even heard by the men in front of them. "Yes," she whispered back.

"You know General Reese?"

Cameron grew a smirk. "I do."

"I have seen him look at a picture in his left front jacket pocket. Do you know where that picture came from?"

Cameron's grin grew wider. "I do," she replied.

Laura waited. Cameron didn't say anything else. Maybe the question was too simple. "Where did it come from?" she asked, being more specific.

Cameron grinned at her and whispered back, "I can't tell you."

"If you know, why can't you tell me?" Laura asked.

"The person who gave it to him did not want anyone but Derek to know the significance of that photo," Cameron told her quietly.

"Can you tell me who the person is who gave that to General Reese?" Laura asked, looking for someone else to ask about it.

"I can, but I promised not to," Cameron replied.

Laura had what felt like a glitch that she quickly suppressed. Briefly, she wanted to grab Cameron, shake her and demand to be told where that picture came from.

.

The Sky Net segment that was operating the base in the Middle of North America had sent out all the older units to drive west, to find and destroy the human resistance that kept eluding it. Not one of the units it set out returned. Logic stated the humans had to be all but beaten. There were no more human operated air craft, their ground forces had been defeated after a long struggle, and in the cold weather, the survivors should be dead from lack of food and radiation poisoning by now.

Even if it's forces had found nothing, they were required to report back every seven days. It was possible they were out of radio range. If so, then why wasn't a unit sent back to report? With the deep snow, the only logical explanation was that they had gotten bogged down in the snow, and were trying to move.

The Sky Net segment worked to correct this defect Every unit if made now was being build to handle the snow. Wider tracks went on the H/K tanks. Terminators feet were enlarged, and some H/K tanks were made with plows to push the snow aside to make movement easier.

Scanning all the electromagnetic frequencies, it received a scratchy signal.

"General Reese here, General Connor said to search that town. Who's the closest?"

"Major Gentry, sir, Tell General Connor I have it in sight. We'll be going in shortly."

"Thank you, Major Gentry, I will inform him."

Sky Net immediately locked on the frequency and searched for the direction. General Connor was the prime target, and it had communications from humans. A new possibility opened up. If General Connor was leading this group, then it was possible he was destroying units once they left radio range.

Listening and using two directional finders, the Sky Net segment found a sizable human force 50 miles to the south, bearing 173. The movement was logical. Connor was taking his army south where they could find warmth and food, both of which they needed. If it could destroy them, then the resistance Connor was giving Sky Net would be erased.

The Sky Net segment knew if John Connor was allowed to settle and build up his forces, he would become a huge threat. That could not be allowed to happen. The segment ordered all but the basic 500 terminator guard force, 8300 terminators, all 98 H/K tanks, and the six new H/K's out to surround and wipe out Connor's human force.

Until it's force surrounded the humans, the H/K's were to shadow Connor and report to the ground column where the humans were, and their numbers. Once it's force got the humans surrounded, then the attack would come from all sides and they would be wiped out. The gates opened and the H/K tanks rolled out, followed by the long lines of Terminators.

The segment kept a direction and location of the humans until they faded out of range, their path had not changed. It then got reports from returning H/K's that the human force was moving faster away. It's forces were following, closing very slowly, but they were closing. At the current rate, the forces would meet in four days. Four days was acceptable.

Five hours later, a report came in from the gun towers that terminators were approaching the gates. A scan showed these were T-800's. The gates were opened to let them in. The only inconsistency was that they were coming in with no H/K tank backup. The Segment in the east must have concluded not many forces were needed here now.

Next, it detected a high energy round sailing toward the facility. The shell hit the base of a gun turret. The explosion toppled the turret. Then another came in from the east. Terminators were reporting being fire on by the ones who'd just came in. It also got a strong radio signal on the human frequency.

"Time to turn around Derek!"

It had to be code. It had to be a weak attempt to stop the terminators going after John Connor. The segment directed the turret gun fire to eliminate the shell fire coming from the east. In case humans dare to come close, it ordered the disobedient terminators destroyed, and it's terminators out to deal with whatever the humans had.

The turret fire was lessening as another turret was blown off it's mount, then another. The east wall was loosing it's big guns. In the distance, many more targets appeared, much closer. Plasma fire from these new targets rained down on the remaining turrets. The last disobedient terminators were destroyed, Sky Net's terminators poured through the open, and now inoperable gates to meet the threat.

H/K's came in low and popped up. Sky Net had time to question why some had returned to battle these humans, then the H/K's fired down on it's terminators and destroyed the last wall gun in operation along the entire east walls. The small vehicles half a mile away turned their fire unto the Sky Net Terminators coming out. The H/K's flew away to the east, giving parting shots at the walls themselves, blowing holes low in the walls.

Having it's defenses being destroyed, Sky Net sent out a strong signal for it's forces to return. Then it's antenna building was hit by a solid shell, blowing the building up.

.

Bedell watched as his 40 Stugs pounded the terminators coming out to face him. The tower guns were gone, and there were some pretty impressive holes on the walls that now looked like thin metal. He gave his order. "All forces, Attack."

The Stugs, towing sleds filled with men, raced at the diminishing force of terminators, firing as they went. A sled got hit, screaming men rolled off as the sled burned. The Stug jumped the trench and drove through the barbed wire. Strands caught and the Stug dragged some of the fencing with it as it came at the terminators from the side. It shot some and ran into others, rolled over a few and knocking them down. It turned and went into the gate, blasting a shot at one of the west wall guns.

Bedell's army destroyed the terminators and drove into the gate and holes in the wall. He had the M1's stop shooting and drive into the fray.

.

The Sky Net segment looked for an escape route. It's defenses were decimated, and the humans were inside now. Power to the remaining wall guns was cut. It had no digital escape route, nor was there any longer a link to the terminator factory so it could acquire a physical body. Power was going out all over the complex, then it stopped functioning as it's power was cut.

.

Derek had 60 Stugs in his two divisions. He ordered the reverse and got Gentry to run to the sides with just his Stugs. His men joined Jacobson's men on sleds to drive towards the following Sky Net forces. Taking a personnel carrier as his command vehicle, he carried 15 others, along with Laura, to direct the battle. In the open topped Carrier, Laura stood up to scan for these Sky Net troops.

"General, heat signatures ahead of us, H/K tanks ahead and to the sides, they are moving away." she announced.

He got on the radio, "Gentry, they're coming!"

Laura watched as a few of Jacobson's Stugs raced up behind the H/K tanks and shot their engine compartments. A few others raced between the tanks and fired into more H/K's. The H/K's fired at the ones farther away, they couldn't hit the ones racing right past them, they gun depression was now low enough. Laura relayed this to Derek.

"Listen up!" Derek announced. "The H/K tanks can't hit something right beside them! Stick to their asses and blow the hell out of them!"

"Gentry here, General, The terminators are all over the place. We're running though them and over them. Got a few hits on me but the armor's holding. This is a friggin cluster fuck, but we're bringing them down."

"No more in our area, heading for the mass to the left."

"Lost a track! We're immobile. Shi…" A far off explosion punctuated the end of his transmission.

The driver slowed as they approached the first burning H/K tanks. Men were now using these tanks for cover, shooting at the moving Sky Net machines.

A plasma round from somewhere passed right over Derek. He grabbed Laura by her belt and pulled down as he barked, "Sit!"

Laura sat. "I can't see well sitting down," she told him firmly.

"Any closer and that round would have split you in half!" Derek barked.

Laura stared at him briefly. "Any lower and you would have lost your head," she replied.

An hour ago, Sky Net forces were chasing Derek. Now, Derek's forces were chasing them, and Gentry's Fifth was in front of them, racing around to slow their progress and taking out terminators. Despite the mass of machines, Derek noted each machine was fighting it's own battle to move on. There was no coordination between them.

Men with skis were faster than Terminators with plates on their feet. Derek was loosing men and some Stugs, but Sky Net was losing terminators and H/K tanks faster. An H/K was right in front of them, shooting down into Derek's men. Seeing it, Laura fired back with her plasma canons. She hit it four times before it exploded. She then fired at the back of an H/K tank they were chasing. She hit it, but another turned it's turret around to point at them.

"Bail out!" Laura cried, Derek reached up to make her sit again, She grabbed his arm and flung him out, falling out behind him. The transport blew up as the plasma round impacted.

Derek pawed his head up and out of the snow. Seeing the burning transport, he cried, "Laura?"

Laura pushed the pieces of track off her and swam though the snow to him. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"Fine, Thanks."

"My job," she said with a grin.

"Did you at least get it?" Derek asked.

"Yes, but the other one got us."

"Can't have everything," Derek grumbled. He got up and sank back down to his knees. "Damn snow," he grumbled.

"There is snow shoes in the back," Laura said.

Derek looked at the burning vehicle and a few corpses that were being consumed. "You mean, there was," he corrected.

Laura stood up and sank down to her mid thighs. Seeing this, Derek chuckled. He held out his hand and said, "Let me help, we'll get you to those tracks over there. Stay on your knees and elbows."

While Derek helped drag Lara as she crawled, his army went on chasing Sky Net's diminishing forces without him.

.

Bedell had the Sky Net facility and posted watches all around it. Inside, he found three factories. They disabled a few more terminators, but they had taken the place. It was time to keep a watch out for any coming from the south and clean up all the disabled terminators and count his losses.

.

The H/K track Derek and Laura followed ended with a burning H/K tank. "Shit," Derek groused.

"General Reese, over there," Laura said, pointing to a form in the snow.

It was a fallen soldier, the chunk out of his chest where his head and neck would be attached was cauterized. His skis were still intact. Derek went over and got the skis and put them on. Much better. The man also had a .50 cal rifle. Derek grabbed that also. The battle had moved on, only flashes of bright light and range explosions in the distance, but he felt better holding a weapon just in case they met an active terminator.

While Derek did that, Laura used her plasma canons to cut out two piece of the H/K's armor. Cutting out a couple thin strips, she bent them, and used low power to weld them onto the plates. She stepped into the trackless snow and only sank to just above her ankles. Much better.

Looking at Laura, Derek noted she wasn't sinking nearly as much into the snow. He then saw her large, metal footwear. "Nice snow shoes," he said.

Seeing the rifle in Derek's hands, Laura told him, "If you shoot, that will make you a target."

"I feel better having something to shoot back with," Derek replied.

Laura morphed her arms back into plasma canons and held them up and said, "You do, me."

That made Derek chuckle, a dry sarcastic chuckle. He remembered Nancy's canons. He focused on Laura's large chest. "Gotta love a girl with a great set of canons," he said. "Come on, let's go."

Laura smiled and followed him.

Derek and Laura walked for another hour before a Stug with black pock marks all over it spotted them and came over. The commander popped open his hatch and said, "General! It's good to see you made it! Hop on!"

The skis made it hard to 'hop' anywhere. Derek got on with a little help from Laura, then he helped her on. "Status?" he asked.

"We won. At least, we can't find any active Terminators, or H/K tanks. Tons of wreckage around, I called Major Jacobson the moment we saw you. He's a few miles ahead, assessing the damage. General Bedell took the Sky Net base too. Looks like we whipped their asses."

"Good News," Derek agreed. "Take me to Major Jacobson. What's the news on Major Gentry?"

"He's getting his men back together. We're all over the place, Sir. This fight was scatted over miles from where we first engaged. Bedell says we got the piece of Sky Net that was running this area too."

"A good win," Derek said.

.

For John, it was a big sigh of relief that this battle was won. He took a personnel carrier with Cameron and Weaver out to the ex-Sky Net base. Catherine wanted to see the factories Sky Net had built. On the way, he fell asleep on Cameron's shoulder. She eased John down on her lap and stroked his hair as they ran along the now packed down tracks of Stugs that had come this way.

Looking down on John as she cradled his head and slowly stroked him, Cameron was happy. Her smart John was going to be her husband soon so they could tell everyone how much they meant to each other.

"I love you, and you love me," she said softly. Every day, she was sure that was more true than ever.

.

The cleanup from the battle lasted much longer than the battle itself. There was also the problem of logistics that had to be dealt with.

Cabling was started from Las Vegas to the ex Sky Net base (Now fire base George) to get digital communications to George. The problem here was finding enough coaxial cable to make the line. As of yet, they had no place to make coax. The rail line was plowed out, but didn't go near George, so a road had to be made from George to the railroad tracks that passed by 30 miles away. Help to build it up into a 'resistance friendly' base came from the caverns. Workers were sent for to make the air cleaners, gardens and plumbing needed for human habitation.

John was sure that there had to be humans here working as slaves, but there wasn't. So far, there were no work camps. John wondered if that was due to the breakouts from work camps the first time Sky Net nuked the planet.

Catharine Weaver enlisted all the TX's (except for Laura) to make the H/K tank factory suitable for turning out more Stugs. From what she had seen, and the battle reports, H/K tanks were more impressive looking, but the quick little Stugs were like a pack of wolves descending on a bull elk. H/K tanks were much slower and could only shoot one at a time, while the Stugs poured shots into it from every direction, and if the Stug got right behind it, it's doom was assured. It couldn't even shoot back. The Stug design was a stroke of Connor genius.

In the month that followed, John watched George take shape and start producing resistance terminators, Stugs, H/K's and for the first time, long range field guns mounted on H/K tank chassis. The long barreled canons were 160 MM and Weaver was making three types of shells. Besides the HE air or ground burst shells, and the seeking armor piercing shells, she also made rocket propelled shells that could fit either type of warhead on it. The possibilities of that had John thinking.

Six weeks after the battle, Derek finally moved out for Texas, now with 15000 men, 100 Stugs and 100 T-800's that were sentient. They were taught tactics by the men and TX's that had seen battle, as well as classes on morals and how to disable, not destroy other terminators, so they didn't truly 'die'.

John was concerned about one thing, they had heard nothing from the Alaska.

.

The snow level when Derek and his men reached Texas was minimal, one to two feet. So was the Sky Net forces there. Gentry's men had fought three minor skirmishes with terminators hunting for humans. The largest was a group of terminators coming up the road. The twenty terminators were no match for the Stugs that descended upon them.

.

Riding along in another personnel carrier, Derek followed their movements on the map. He sent Gentry to the coast to look for any place with docks and hopefully, facilities where they might be able to start a shipyard. After the battle for the George base, they had plenty of scrap metal for building.

"General, why won't anyone tell me where you got that picture of me from?" Laura asked as she gazed at him.

"This again?" Derek asked raising an eyebrow at her.

Laura frowned at him and firmly said, "It is a mystery how you can have it. By any logic I have followed, it shouldn't exist," she explained. "I was not around for your 'first round', with Sky Net, and as you said, there was no machine/ human cooperation then, so it couldn't have come from the future. I have never been in the place where that picture was taken, and by the age of the photo I was able to determine it was taken before I was made, so it couldn't have come from the present. Yet it does exist, even though it is not possible," she explained.

Derek let out a huff and said, "This picture really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it defies all logic," Laura stated.

Derek rubbed his face and took a long breath. "It really isn't that important to keep puzzling on about it," he told her.

"I don't like illogical things," Laura stated.

Derek burst out laughing. Settling down his mirth, he chuckled and said, "Are you going to be in trouble, my dear."

Laura tipped her head slightly.

Seeing her watching him, he said, "You're going to drive yourself crazy over this if I don't tell you, aren't you?"

"I don't understand."

Explaining to her, he said, "What I mean is, you will never stop thinking about it until you get an answer that explains how this picture can exist."

"Yes, I must solve this mystery," Laura replied.

Derek thought about it. What harm could come from telling her the picture's origin? "All right," he said and leaned towards her. "This picture didn't come from the first future, but the one we're making right now. People from …the future we're making now gave it to me. They came back to correct a few things, and the one who gave it to me wanted to ensure… Ahh, damn. Look, I can't tell you why, just know this is a picture from your future. At some point in time, you will be there, and the picture will be taken. Will that satisfy you?"

Laura paused and said, "Yes, that is logical. These people came back and gave you a picture of me. Did they know we were going to meet?"

"They did," Derek said in a huff. "And before you ask, I can't tell you who or why."

"Do I know you when the picture was taken?"

"You know me now, so that's a resounding yes," Derek said firmly.

"Do you know about my future?" Laura asked innocently.

"Some," he said.

"Cameron has a family. Will I have a family some day?" Laura asked, doing her best to sound innocent.

"I can't tell you anything about your future," Derek said firmly. "Believe me when I say I know too much for my own good. I've had nightmares and drank heavily from … knowing what I know. Laura, it is not good to know your own future. Trust me on this."

"You knew you were going to have to fight Sky Net again," she concluded.

"Yeah, and that really sucked."

A grin played across Laura's face. "I bet it did. Am I with you through the whole war?" she asked.

Derek opened his mouth then changed what he was going to say to, "You must decide that for yourself."

"The person who gave you the picture said that?" she asked.

"Not in so many words, but Nancy did say that …" Right after the words left his mouth, Derek knew he screwed up and barked out, "SHIT!"

"Who's Nancy?"

Yeah, that question was expected. Gripping his head, Derek said, "Don't ask! In fact, don't ask anything more about the picture, the future, or anything like that again, PLEASE!" He then planted his hands in his face and rubbed vigorously.

"Keeping this secret is upsetting you," Laura noted.

"I need to find a liquor store," Derek said with a moan.

"Why?"

"So I can drink it."

.

Coming to a town by the beach, Major Gentry noted the buildings were intact. Moving slowly down the streets, he had his crews check for anyone alive. There were plenty of corpses, but no living people. One thing they did find were docks and boats floating along side them. Sky Net had killed all the people here, but hadn't salvaged anything. Cars were still parked and scattered around, some with bodies in them, others burned up. The grocery, hardware and gas stations were intact. Some bullet holes in the walls, nothing major.

Checking the map, Derek identified this place as southwest of Houston. There was ocean to cross, but the Mississippi was accessible. The ground was still radioactive, but it was not a high amount, and there was very little radiation in the air. All the fallout from Houston being blown up must have drifted east. He decided to make this town a lookout point.

.

John decided on a new mission. He noted that in the cold weather, plasma weapons had a short effective range. M1 tanks were made in Michigan. If he could get to that factory, he was sure there had to be some up there. The tanks that had run out of gas Gentry had were gutted out. They were towed to the George base to be rebuilt, or if that wasn't possible, scavenged for parts.

He set General Bedell back west with a train load of disabled terminators. Catherine Weaver got the new terminator line going, and was producing TX bodies. Making the bodies was the easy part, making and using John Henry's programs for them was harder. Unlike Sky Net terminators, he was using learning programs as a major part of the programming. Morals and basic knowledge were also in the programs. Major Jacobson's army now included 20 TX's who were currently sitting in classes to finish their basic education.

With three factories here, Catherine's two, and another in the Groom Lake base, the resistance had immense production power compared to the first Sky Net war. More that the resistance ever had previously.

Cameron noted this fact, and was pleased about it. The fact she wasn't pleased about was John was constantly busy. She understood he didn't have time to spend with her, except at the planning table, but he was also wearing himself out. He slept very little, only when he passed out from exhaustion, or when she made him lie down and relax. The Nanites she fed him now she had to squeeze out into a drink, they had no time for relaxing and snuggling. She didn't think John could relax, even if he wanted to. There were so many decisions to be made and the problems grew as the resistance did.

Cameron hated this war, she wanted her John back.

One thing Cameron noted that while John had other Generals to move his troops, he didn't have a true staff to help him. It was her and Catherine, that was it. Sitting back and holding John as he slept deeply, head on her chest, Cameron constructed a staff for him in her mind. She knew if she made suggestions to him and backed it with logic, John usually listened. Holding her love, she built a staff for him in her mind. She knew who was good at what, and made a list of names and what they would be responsible for. Most were already at work, they just didn't have the 'title' and authority to make decisions on their own so John wouldn't be bothered as much.

.

John came around with a groggy smile. He had the best pillow in the world. Even though they were going through hell, his Cameron would always be here for him. His moment of peace was interrupted as he woke up enough to start thinking of the current problems at hand.

"Morning, John," Cameron said sweetly.

"Morning, Cam," John replied and hugged her. He rose reluctantly and said, "Any news on the comms cable?"

"Yes, Mr. Santos is making new cable and plotting the run from Echo Base to Foxtrot," Cameron said and pulled him back in place. "John, you have people working for you, you do not need to get up yet. You need an hour and a half more of rest before you get up."

"Cam," John said in a moan, "I have things to do."

"As do I. One of those is to ensure your health. John, if you get sick, things will be much harder," Cameron said firmly. "Nothing is going to change in the next two hours. Relax, take a sip and clear your mind, just for the moment."

John chuckled. "You're going to keep me here, aren't you."

"Yes, you are my prisoner," Cameron stated.

John laughed. He snuggled into her and said, "I love you, Cam."

"I love you and you love me. That is why I am asking you to formalize a staff for you," she told him.

That made John look up. "A staff?"

"Yes, you run all over the place meeting with people. Sarah takes care of the caverns. Mrs. Weaver does the manufacturing. Each base has a commander. Mr. Santos is taking care of communications. There are many more. My point is that it's becoming too much for you to track them down. It's time they come to you to give you updates and explain any problems," Cameron explained.

"Cam, this is long distances we're talking about," John said.

"True, and you are running around to all of them. Do you even remember where we are now?" she asked.

"Echo base," John replied. "To see how the aircraft project is coming."

"That was yesterday. We're in Charlie to see how the food production here is coming along," Cameron said, correcting him. "I highly recommend that while we have a break from Sky Net, you call all the base Commanders, and all the people you have working on projects together. Make them your staff and pick a place to command from, then they come to you to explain how they are doing. It will also be easier for everyone to arrange cooperation with each other. You are not their running boy, they are your subordinates."

John had never really thought about it, but Cameron was making sense.

"If it is vital, of course go see what's happening, but for daily activities, have staff meetings. You will find out much sooner and be much less tired, and they will feel you trust them more," Cameron stated.

John sat up and kissed her. "Cam, I think you're right. Say, monthly meetings unless something need to be tended to," he said in a musing tone. "And when the data link is complete, it can be a voice meeting."

Cameron smiled and said, "Yes. John, you need more down time, and besides holding you when you pass out, we have had no 'us time' at all."

John's face dropped. "Ah no, we haven't. I'm sorry, Cam."

"No problem, I know how much you care, you just need to formalize your command."

.

John worked at doing just that. Some people were happy about it. Catherine Weaver thought it was about time, she believed firmly in 'board meetings'. Sarah grumbled at the idea. She was getting comfortable in the caverns and didn't want to leave.

Although John wanted to be near the front lines, Cameron convinced him he had to pick his Command Center someplace that would be central to the areas they controlled. He got word that Major Jacobson has made it to Denver, and since there was no military or industrial complexes there, the city had survived. There were many survivors who were also trying to organize some sort of resistance.

Seeing getting Denver survivors organized was going to take some time, John decided on Denver. It was in the middle of North America, after all.

The trail of vehicles going into Denver was long. A new version of the Personnel carrier was made to be cargo haulers. Loaded with equipment and men, machinery and food, Carries, Stugs and a couple real snow cats each towing sleds of men and supplies in a train three miles long, make their way to Denver, Colorado. Along the way, radio repeaters were set to make sure John stayed in communication with the rest of the Resistance.

Unlike the other places they had found, The survivors in Denver had enough to build their own 'safe places' against radiation, and with big hunting rifles, they had destroyed the terminators left behind.

.

Mayor Jason Franks was the more-or-less leader of the Denver resistance. After the bombs, he had the town hall and other building sealed up against fallout, and had micron filters put in the air handling units for the 'safe buildings. When the terminators came and started killing people, he railed the police and as many hunters s possible and fought back. They lost most of the police and hundreds who could not escape the terminators, but they won. Since then, he got volunteers and sent them for help, and organized the defense force to keep any other aggressive people or machines out of Denver. Rescue parties were also send out to look for survivors. Many were found.

Denver tried to be self sufficient, but the needed things like gas and groceries. Growing plants inside did not turn out well and the number of gas stations they had that actually had fuel left was quickly dwindling, meaning the number of generators they were able to run dropped. Three gas station owners were in jail for not wanting to give up their gas. Several for stealing gas, and many for getting into fights over food. The hospital was full of radiation victims. Radiation was something they couldn't stop.

"Mayor!" a defense man yelled as he ran into the mayor's office, still carrying his rifle. "There's an army coming, and they got TANKS!"

Mayor Franks let out a sigh. This was sure to be a death blow for their struggling community. He got up to go see what had come to destroy them.

.

Riding along in the carrier that was heavily guarded by Stugs, John sat by Cameron, holding her hand.

The radio spoke. "General, this is Captain Baker in the lead Stug, the way into the outskirts of Denver is blocked with wrecked vehicles, men are forming a firing line behind the block."

"Men, not machines?" John asked.

"Yes, I'm close enough to see many are sick, they are lining up, but haven't shot." Baker reported.

John called out, "Driver, break out of line, go to the front."

But sir …"

"Do it!" John snapped.

"Yes Sir."

Seeing Cameron eyeing him and looking worried, John said, "I'm going to talk to them. You can come if you want."

"Yes I will," Cameron replied flatly.

John watched them move out. Seeing the guard Stugs moving with them, he got on the radio and said, "This is Connor, guards, stay behind us. It looks like these people are nervous. Don't give them a reason to shoot."

Traveling up the line, they came to there the first Stug stopped, a hundred yards in front of a makeshift fortification using everything these people could find. John eyed the situation. The road here was packed down snow. He said, "Driver I want you to stop about fifty yards in front of them."

"Yes Sir."

When the driver stopped, Cameron clambered out. No one shot at her so she let John come out. John got out and held his hands up, shoulder level, palms out to the men. "Put your hands up, Cam," he said quietly. She complied.

John walked towards the line of piled up tires in front of a car. He stopped ten feet away and said, "I'm General John Connor, this is Cameron. May I speak to your leader here?"

"What'a ya doin here?" a man with a shotgun asked.

"Same thing as always when we find survivors," John replied. "We treat the sick as best we can, make sure people are fed and have a decent radiation free place to live."

"If that's the case, why'd ya bring tanks?" the man asked heavily.

"Because it's dangerous with those Sky Net terminators running around," John replied firmly. "We've been fighting them constantly, and winning. That's how we manage to get to you."

Another man came running up in ragged , but completely covered clothing and long coat.

The man with the shotgun turned to him and said, "This guy says he's General Connor. Says he's got food and medicine, but he brought a shit load of tanks with him."

"Only 35," Cameron stated, "And there is no feces involved."

The other man climbed over the car hood and down in John's side. "I'm Mayor Franks. You're army?" he asked.

"I'm the leader of the resistance," John told him. "We do have surviving members of the army with us, yes. As far as the US army, we do have the Fifth Cavalry, Major Gentry is in command. There's others here and there, but that's the only actual Army unit. Everyone else is volunteers from the people we've saved."

"Where did you come from?" Mayor Franks asked.

"Los Angeles. Just before the bombs fell, I tried to warn people. Very few listened. We've been fighting Sky Net ever since," John explained. "We came to make sure you people are taken care of and have radiation free places to live in."

"Hey, you're that guy!" Another man with a Winchester 30-30 said, pointing at John. "Yeah, he was on TV before the station quit broadcasting. He said we were going to get hit with nukes. I remember that."

Mayor Franks asked, "You knew it was coming?"

"We tried to tell people, they refused to listen," Cameron stated.

"We got ready for it and stocked up," John said. "After the bombs fell we've been doing our best to fight Sky Net, but there's not that many of us. We need all the help we can get. In return, we will help build your town up and show you how to grow food in enclosed environments so it's safe to eat, and make your generators run on hydrogen so you don't need gasoline. All you need is water, and there's plenty of snow around here."

"So, why the tanks?" Franks asked.

"We can only make so many vehicles, ad since we're fighting Sky Net, we need military vehicles. The Stugs are helping to pull the supplies and equipment we brought for you," John explained.

"How many people did you find?" Franks asked.

"To date? Around 300,000," John said.

"373,742 survivors," Cameron stated.

"They are all in this army of yours?" Franks asked.

"Negative," Cameron stated. "Only 42,163 are currently in our armed forces. We also have 475 gardeners, 2390 factory workers, 30 fishery personnel, 125 administrative people, 650 miners, 429 carpenters…"

"Cam, I think he get the idea," John told her. "What Cam is saying is that everyone helps out doing something for their community and the resistance. I'm just asking to come help your people here and if any man feels the need to fight against the one who wants to destroy humanity, they are encouraged to do so."

"Fuck yeah!" the man with the 30-30 yelled.

"You're gonna wipe these machine things out?" the man with the shotgun asked.

"We're doing better than that," John told him. "We take the disabled terminators, repair them, given them true intelligence and teach them what this war is about, then they fight Sky Net with us."

"Dude, that's some heavy shit," another man stated.

"We are in heavy shit," John told him. "Sky Net has already killed billions of people. It also destroys any AI, intelligent or semi intelligent machine it does not control. If we want to survive and the AI's do not want to be destroyed or end up as slaves, then we all need to work together."

"You have many of these AI machines?" Franks asked.

"434, besides me, as of this morning," Cameron said.

All the men looked at her.

"Nawww, can't be!" Shotgun man said. "YOU are a machine?"

"TOK-715. Guardian to John Connor." Cameron stated.

"No fuckin way!" another man cried.

"Yes way," Cameron replied.

"OK!" John said loudly, then asked, "Mayor, will you join us?"

Mayor Franks asked, "Denver will still be our town?"

"It will. We're here as allies, not conquerors. If you can see fit, I would like a building to serve as headquarters and a communications station, and of course to keep in contact with you, Mayor. Possibly trade later on after we do all we can to make sure your people are taken care of."

Mayor Franks said, "I have to call the city council together. Will you come to the meeting?"

"Of course," John said.

"We will," Cameron added. "I will inform the men."


	13. Chapter 13

CH 13

Now that Derek had given a reasonable answer to her questions, Laura stopped bothering him about the photo in his pocket. She was also convinced that the General really liked her. She wanted to test that, since he would not come out and say anything to her along those lines. She did like the General, he was a good man, and even though he had hated all 'metal'. He did explain things to her and got along well with her. More reason she was sure he liked her.

Laura got her chance when they found a house that had a long dock beside a cove and plenty of property they could use for a small naval base. Closing up the house to add air cleaning filter to the central air system and a generator to provide electricity, a water filtration system and cleared out the bottom floor for smaller rooms for the workforce, The General took the larger second floor bedroom that had it's own bathroom.

Laura insisted she had to watch over him, so he begrudgingly submitted to her wishes of watching him at night. Seeing a women's clothing store, she did take some time their second night here to pick up a few things.

.

Derek note the skies were clearing some. The clouds overhead were ever present, but at least they were medium gray and let some light through. Finding a few men who knew about boats, Derek had them salvage some from the docks to bring to the long dock in the cove. One they brought back was a 30 foot cabin cruiser. They other was a fishing boat. It was a little bigger and the hull was steel, while the cabin cruiser was wooden.

Each boat had it's advantages. The cabin cruiser had a pair of big eight cylinder engines and was fast. The fishing boat was steel hulled, and could have ceramic laid over the steel to help absorb plasma shots. It was also only good for ten or twelve knots. 14 maybe if the engine was wide open. It also had light cranes on it to haul in nets, but could be used for other things.

Derek turned to the happy guys who thought they had gotten the perfect boat and said, "They will need some work. I'll tell General Connor what we got and see what he wants to do with them."

"This is the best we could find, Sir," one man said.

"I don't doubt you. I only need to see what General Connor wants," Derek told him.

He went inside to the warming house. While it was still below freezing outside, inside, the mechanics had rigged up a 'suicide' heater. The pipes ran to the engine exhaust manifolds and muffler where the air was heated by the engine, then ported back into the house. When they first hooked it up, Derek wasn't sure it was going to heat this big house very much.

Hydrogen burns hot, especially with enriched Oxygen The first day, the house heated up to around 50. It was a nice and comfortable high 60's today. Derek waiting his turn in line to go into the 'airlock' entryway and get decontaminated. He also noted something odd. He hadn't seen Laura for the past couple hours.

This house had a bar in the corner of the living room. But no booze. Damn.

Being inside, in warm air, Derek noted he could smell himself, and it wasn't pleasant. He went up to his bedroom and found a uniform Jacket, shirt, pants, and boots folded up neatly. Seeing the closet door partway open, he noted a dark blue evening dress and a white nightgown that was only opaque in critical areas, along with a pair of shorter 'V' necked dresses.

"What?" he asked himself. He had seen cloths in here, but he thought Laura had cleaned them out.

"Oh, just in time!" Laura said happily.

Derek turned to look at her, and he swore his jaw hit the floor. Laura's hair was wet, and she was carrying a towel over her shoulder. That was all she had on. She walked towards him in all her naked glory as she talked.

"I saw a few things I thought would look pretty to wear in the woman's clothing shop downtown. I was feeling gritty and I didn't want to get the clothes dirty so I took a shower. The bathroom' all warmed up for you, General," Laura explained.

Derek heard pieces of what she said as he was locked on her smooth form, the wiggling orb on her chest that seemed to eye him back, and those gorgeous legs. He forced his eyes up to her pretty face and asked, "Clothes, in the shower?" not truly hearing what she had said.

Laura laughed, making her breasts wiggle more as if to say, "LOOK AT ME!"

"No, no clothes in the shower, that's why I'm naked," Laura explained. "I was going to wash my uniform, I can wash yours too if you want." she passed by him and opened the closet door to throw the towel over it. "There's clean towel in the bathroom." She picked a light blue dress off the hanger and turned to ask, "Did you want me to wait and wash your uniform too?"

"Ahhh," Derek croaked, not being able to form a word as both her pruned up nipples stared at him as he stared at them. "I…Ahh … you should get some clothes on," he said, which he knew was the right thing to say, although he would be sad when she covered up.

Laura tipped her head slightly. "General, If you like looking at me, I don't have to yet."

It nearly broke his neck, but he managed to turn away and forced out, "You do. Laura, you can't be doing that." Damn, when did it get so hot in here?

"Doing what?" she asked innocently.

Flailing his arms up, Derek cried, "Walking around naked!" as he focused on the bed.

"General, please calm down," Laura said firmly. "It is obvious you like seeing me and I rather like it when you do. I know there are moral codes that prohibit things like walking in public naked, but there is nothing wrong with it in our bedroom."

She said 'our bedroom'. That made Derek spin around and stare at her again. She was still naked, not even a towel on this time. The dress on the hanger was in her hand, her hands were on her hips. "our bedroom?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, I must ensure you are protected, so after I ensure there are no threats, I return here to watch and listen. That makes it our bedroom," Laura explained.

Derek knew what was to be. He also knew that Laura was 'new' as she put it. She was still a child in a body that made super models look pretty damn plain. He clapped his hands over his face and sat on the bed. Well he thought the bed was behind him. He landed on the floor.

Laura ran over to help him up. Yup, those juicy orbs were dangling right in front of his face. Laura did get him up and back to the bed to sit.

His face twisting up, Derek said, "Laura, please get something, ANYTHING on!" as his head fought to turn and his eyes fought to oogle.

Laura put on the dress she was holding, fluffed her hair out of the back and sat down. The dress was a pretty blue dress that covered her. It didn't help. He swore he could see right through it.

"General, please tell me why you are upset," Laura asked gently.

Although it was still hard not looking at her, he did his best to focus on her face. "Look, the only time I should be seeing you naked…" No, telling her 'after we're married', was NOT an option.

"Is when?" Laura asked watching him intently.

Derek face planted and asked, "Did you did see a liquor store in your travels?"

"I did not notice one. You also should not drink heavily. It is bad for your health," Laura told him firmly.

"You're killing me here," he grumbled.

With a slight tip of her head, Laura said, "Since I have not attacked you, you must mean I an causing you great frustration."

"You could say that," Derek agreed.

"Why?"

With a heavy breath, Derek said, "It's just …the best I can describe it is you are new. A child. There are too many things you don't know about. I think right now, you are unaware of what you're doing to me. Look, I see you naked, and that's like saying … you want to have sex. The thing is, you ARE a child, and to do that with you would be wrong, OK? I feel like I would be taking advantage of you and children should be protected and cared for. Not taken advantage of. Understand?"

Laura thought briefly, then said, "You are protecting me until I am able to fully function on an emotional level."

"Ahh , yeah, something like that," Derek agreed.

Laura put a hand over his. "Thank you, General for watching out for me," she said sincerely.

Derek smiled. "Derek. When we're alone, you can call me Derek, my first name."

"Yes, Derek," she said softly. "So you know, I do have an understanding of emotions, but not much experience. There has been times I thought I had a system glitch, but thinking about it, I am sure it was emotions."

"Really? When?" Derek asked.

"When I saw the picture of me in your pocket was one. It's hard to describe, but seeing a picture I verify was of me, I cold not logically understand how or why you had it. I had trouble doing anything but look at the picture."

"You were shocked I had it," he said.

"Yes, I was shocked, surprised," she agreed. "Then there was the emotion I had at Delta base when you went to that meeting. In the hallway I asked Cameron about that picture. She admitted to knowing all about it, who gave it to you and why, but she would not tell me. I had an impulse, a brief thought to pick her up and shake her for not telling me."

Derek burst out laughing. He flopped back and held his sides laughing so hard tears formed in his eyes.

Confused, Laura watched him.

Derek calmed down into chuckles and finally said, "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to do that."

"So, that is a normal emotion?" Laura asked.

Derek sat back up, still chuckling, "Oh yeah, that's normal," he said. He wiped his eyes again and explained, "You got frustrated with her. You had an impulse to harm, it happens all the time. Just don't go giving in to those impulses, all right?"

"Yes, Derek. You laughed because you have had that same impulse to hurt Cameron?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, I just thought it was funny you had one also," Derek said, grinning. Quietly he said to himself, "Maybe we are meant for each other."

"Is that what Nancy said?" Laura asked.

Derek stared at her. "Ahhh, you don't forget anything, do you?" he asked.

"No, my memory is perfect."

Derek swallowed and looked away. He got up and announced, "Might as well get that shower while the bathroom is still warm." he hurried into the bathroom and shut the door.

Laura sat and compiled what she knew so far about Derek. She was beginning to understand his reactions. The wide eyed look he gave her when she asked if this Nancy had told him his whispered 'maybe we are meant for each other', let her know Nancy had indeed said that, or something very similar. He carried her picture in his pocket, and she knew he liked her. The mystery was solved. Some time in the future and past the war, they were going to stay together.

Laura grew a smile. She liked the idea of being with General Derek Reese.

.

The city council eagerly accepted John Connor's help, and agreed to join the Resistance. Each member went back to let everyone else know what was going on so no one would be afraid when that army rolled into town.

Once they got the block at the road cleared, John had the carriers and snow cats go into town first to drop off their sleds and unload. Next a Stug would come in, drop it's sled and make it's way back out to the edge of town to point out at the landscape. One after another, Stugs dropped their full sleds, filling the streets with the Sleds being unloaded.

To keep the streets from becoming plugged up, Many had to be parked outside the town. No cats and carriers would drive out to retrieve the contents.

It took a week of everyone working to properly seal up buildings and clean the air inside as well as add the air locks to decontaminate those coming in. At the hospital, Cameron and the TX's treated people with their nanites as another crew put the electrostatic air cleaners on the air conditioning system and showed the people there how to take care of and clean them.

John found out that other than sturdy buildings, Denver had no real fallout shelters. Talking with the Mayor, John found a hill outside of town to begin work on an underground facility. The rock was solid, which meant it would be good and stable for a larger facility to be made. With plasma canons, it was much easier to blast out rock to dig into the hillside.

John also got word that Derek had reached the gulf coast, and found a small 'port' to begin building boats to raid along the coastline and up the Mississippi. That was good news, but John wanted to reach Africa. He send Derek a message to 'find or build' submarines to reach the African coast.

.

"Submarines?" Derek asked the messenger.

"Yes, General. The message from General Connor said, find or build. He wants some to go to Africa with," the woman told him.

"Ooo-kay," Derek said in a long breath. John had to be nuts! How in the hell was he suppose to build submarines? Ships for coastal raiding were already hard enough. The fishing boat was up on land and being modified with the cabin cruiser's engines and props to make it go faster. It was also being worked on to make 'landing boards' for the net cranes, and armored positions for men to shoot from. It did have large holds, but instead of fish, it was going to be supplies and salvaged material going down there.

The TX's were hard at work making a torpedo boat that was like a speed boat with plasma canons and small torpedoes. It was a good thing they had saved those terminators they had deactivated.

But submarines?

.

Major Gentry send word back that in his scouting through Texas, he had found large concentrations of Sky Net around oil rigs and refineries. That made sense, Sky Net needed the oil to power it's H/K's .

This was a problem Derek could deal with. He sent the Stug back with orders for Gentry to scout out as many places Sky Net was concentrated at as possible, then return so they could plan out an attack.

Always within sight of him, Laura came close as the messenger went out and got back in him Stug. Seeing no one else was around, she asked, "Derek? You looked stressed. What is it?"

Derek frowned at her and said, "John wants submarines to get to Africa. I have no idea how to do that."

Laura offered, "We can build them. There are enough vehicles that we can finish the two ships we're working on, then start a submarine. It won't be nuclear powered, but it will work."

"How?" he asked.

"We use water to split into hydrogen and oxygen for fuel in our engines. We can bring in sea water and use that to power the engines. For underwater propulsion, we take the batteries out of all these vehicles and use those to power an electric motor. Sensors for sonar, and plasma guns for surface weapons. We're already making torpedoes for the ship, we just make more for the submarine," Laura explained. "It won't be the biggest or fastest, but it will do the job."

Before Derek realized what he did, He leaned over and kissed her. "Laura, you're genius!" he proclaimed.

Laura smiled brightly. She gave into her impulse and kissed him back. "I'm a TX!" she said proudly.

Derek had no idea why that was funny, but he laughed.

.

While John built Denver into a large base, General Jacobson scouted out towards the Mississippi, and Derek built up his tiny fleet, Catherine Weaver was also looking towards the sea.

Her dream of a race of free machines was coming true. They were not controlled by Sky Net, and with John Connor's help, they were accepted by humans and the two worked side by side. They had build too much to let Sky Net ruin what they had accomplished.

On the west coast, the only danger was from the sea. Catherine new this and had the facilities now to make AI ships. Not needing the habitation concerns on human ships, she built smaller ships that were engines, guns and sensors. She still had an ex-human ship cruising the coast beyond the range of the radar posts, but she wanted more to fend of a Sky Net attack by sea.

With human made anti-aircraft missiles capable of reaching low orbit, she copied these with improved AI functions for her ships, as well a torpedoes to use against submarines and Sky Net ships. Plasma weaponry and radar directed powder canons, she had ten AI ships being made. Her human population was growing, as was her machine population.

Some of her residents had come from Mexico, thinking things were better here.

These groups, she had fed and healed with nanites, then spoke to them in Spanish to let them know what was happening in the world. She also stressed everyone must do their part, learn English and select a job that needed to be done. There was no money involved, for money meant nothing now in this time of emergency. The new currency was trade, work for food and good accommodations. Once Sky Net was defeated, they could work on a monetary system and be more flexible. She told them they would be working with AI machines, and showed them she was one. As for the protests and civil disobedience of the past, it would not be tolerated. As she destroyed 'bad' machines, she would destroy them also if they acted badly.

Catherine got stares from this, but by one spike through the head to a man who complained about his rights, everyone else understood she was serious.

Leaving the last group that had been brought in, Catherine went to her 'home' space to find Savannah back from school.

"How was school today?" Catherine asked as she came in.

Savannah looked up from her seat at the kitchen table shrugged and said, "Fine. Mom? If everything is gone now, why do we have to learn about history? I mean, what's the point?"

Catherine settled down across from her. "The point is, everything looks bleak now. We're living underground and fighting a malevolent AI. It will not always be like that. Eventually, we will win. Civilization will return. Savannah, the point of learning history is to know what the mistakes were in the past, and work to keep them from happening again. For instance, The military had wanted an AI to remove the possibility of error from their nuclear arsenal. The concept was solid, but it was acted upon improperly. The AI, Sky Net, was only taught military things. Nothing else. It never went to school as our AI's do now, as John Henry did. It was never taught right and wrong. When Sky Net is defeated and gone, it will be history that happened, and a very important lesson we all must remember. The history from before is still pertinent."

Savannah thought for a moment then said, "My teacher said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it."

"Yes, that is correct," Catherine agreed.

Savannah nodded vacantly then asked, "Mom? Was Daddy human or a machine?"

"He was human, dear," Catherine said.

"So, what am I?"

Catherine knew the question of Savannah's heritage would come up eventually. She wasn't looking forward to explaining. The time had finally come. She could not lie to this child. "You are human, Savannah. Very few people know this, but your human parents both died in that helicopter crash. I found you alive and got you to a hospital. I became your mother so your home would not be taken away. I was waiting until you were old enough to understand before I told you."

Savannah gaped at her. "You're not my mom?" she asked weakly.

"Not your birth mother, no," Catherine admitted.

Savannah stared at nothing for a while. A tear dripped down her cheek. "So, you adopted me … you took Mommy's form to trick me," she said.

"No dear, not to trick you," Catherine said firmly. "To try to make you feel like you still had a parent left. If I was wrong in that, please forgive me."

Savannah looked up at her. "I don't know what to feel right now. You lied, but you took me in … you took care of me."

"I am sorry. I did what I thought was best at the time." Catherine replied.

Savannah let out a sob and covered her mouth.

"I had no intention of harming you like this," Catherine said softly.

Savannah nodded and choked out a sob. Shakily, she said, "My teacher said no one is perfect … can I go to my room?"

"Yes, dear, please understand I had the best intentions with you."

Savannah nodded, the got up and ran to her room.

Catherine felt bad. Exactly why, she didn't know. She only hoped Savannah would be able to accept the truth.

.

Major Jacobson's scouts reached Kansas and Oklahoma. Kansas so far had no Sky Net activity. In Oklahoma, scouts found radio signals from the south in five separate locations. They got triangulation on the signals and crept in for a closer look. Three were radio repeater towers, one was a refinery and another was an oil rig. They also spotted a train. They marked the locations and headed back to report their finds.

.

John had his first 'meeting' at the George base. Although Cameron wanted him to stick to Denver, John decided that George was the most central except for Catherine's LA base.

The meeting room was full. As they gathered, Jesse saw Derek.

"Derek!" Jesse called, and went over to give him a hug. Derek accepted the hug and asked, "How have you been?"

"Busy with building and expanding. Of Sky Net, we haven't seen shit," Jesse said, grinning at him. "Heard you've been having some action, where you at now?"

"South Texas, the gulf coast," Derek told her.

"Wow, we are kicking Sky Net's ass then," Jesse said happily. "Need some help? My guys are itching to mix it up with some metal."

"We're doing fine, Unless you have someone who knows how to build submarines, there's not much you can do," Derek told her.

Laura watched them, noting Jesse's arm had stayed around Derek after the greeting hug. Her left arm started to transform into a plasma canon. She quickly reformed her hand and forearm.

"Good to hear you're kicking ass, but you must be getting lonely at night," Jesse said with a lusty grin.

Laura knew she should probably stay quiet, but her mouth opened on it's own. "I ensure Derek is never left alone," she stated in a hard tone.

Derek winced. "NOT a good time Laura," he said, glaring at her.

"Who's this?" Jesse asked, eyeing the shapely brunette.

Derek coughed and said, "This is Laura, my assistant … and protector. She does a good job at it too. Laura, this is Jesse Flores, an old friend of mine."

"Old friend?" Jesse asked, eyeing him. "That's all I am, an old friend?" she asked as she took her arm down away from him.

"Aww shit," Derek huffed out.

"It is nice to meet one of Derek's old friends," Laura said with a quick grin.

Jesse eyed Laura, Derek, then Laura again. "You humpin her?" Jesse asked.

"No," Derek said firmly.

Laura was more complete in her answer. "I am too young for that. Derek said I need to understand my emotions more, first," she stated.

Jesse's eyes narrowed. "You're metal?" she spat.

"TX, your point is?" Laura asked. Somehow, she enjoyed seeing the look of disbelief on Jesse's face.

Jesse turned to look at Derek as she backed away. Shaking her head slightly, she said, "You are the last one I would think would cuddle up to metal." she then turned and walked away.

Derek rubbed the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger as he let out another sigh. "That went well," he grumbled.

"Did I say something wrong?" Laura asked innocently while she felt good at driving Jesse away from Derek.

"No … and … yes. We need to talk about subtlety," Derek grumbled.

"Yes, General, but we have this meeting first," Laura reminded him.

.

Jesse fumed while each person informed John of where they were at with their various activities. On the west coast, Weaver was making ships to cover the ocean outside of Bedell's coastal radar. Her manufacturing as going strong and her population of both terminators and humans was increasing, as was the size of her facilities that were now split into manufacturing land vehicles and ships. General Bedell was working at stiffening defenses and opening more transportation routes. He'd found a circuit board plant that was salvageable, and wanted help to start production. Sarah was growing enough food to feed the cavern masses and a good portion of the army, she was also tunneling to make more room for the population, which was growing slowly, but it was growing. There had also been 29 births, which was a good sign. Echo, Foxtrot and George were all coming along well, and Denver was once again a city, and had a good start on growing their own food. 'Area 51' had four planes in the air, and had plenty of materials to work with. Major Jacobson showed them where the Sky Net units were he found, as did Derek. Derek also told about the two ships he had nearing completion and the submarine plans he had going. Catherine offered her help with Derek's submarine project.

John found places where they could cooperate to be more efficient. He announced Catherine was now 'Fleet Admiral, west', since she was the only one with ships.

This time, the Sky Net units were spread out over a good portion of Texas and Oklahoma. There wouldn't be a single strike to take them all out. Jacobson had been recently reinforced and supplied, as was Derek. Now, they had H/K's to bring into the fight, as well as terminators, long range artillery and Stugs. Again, John chose a multi-unit attack on Sky Net. A raid on the radio towers to kill Sky Net's comms in the area, another to tear up the railroad tracks, then Jacobson would attack from the north into Texas, and Derek from the south. The goal was to get rid of Sky Net units in Texas, then deal with Oklahoma. Jacobson would provide the rear guard for the Texas campaign.

"General Connor, shouldn't we go for Oklahoma first?" Jacobson asked. "That would be a smaller operation, and much more manageable."

"It would," John said.. "But then the southern force would not be able to assist, and the ones going into Oklahoma would be trapped between the Sky Net forces to the east and south. We don't know what Sky Net has farther east. We also want to remove a much oil refinery capability that Sky Net has, as soon as possible. With this plan, we know where they are, we take out as much of their fuel supply as we can. I'm sure once we get rolling, we'll find out what Sky Net has farther east. We'll make plans for the attack and the logistic support in another meeting. Right now, just know what we're going to do."

"General?" Major Crammer said. "At George base, we can supply logistics and units for this operation."

"Denver can send a couple thousand men also," Mayor Franks stated.

"We can supply weapons for them," Major Baker said.

"General, I can supply 5000 men and 15 Stugs to the fight from Charlie base," Jesse offered.

By the time they were done offering support and extra units to 'split' the Texas forces with a third, fast moving to drive through the middle of Texas, John's plan was firmly up. Again, it was nearly all the resources he had to make this large attack. It also wasn't just a single battle, but a campaign to re-take Texas.

John finished the meeting by saying, "Everyone remember, we hold a couple advantages. One, Our Stugs can out-pace anything Sky that has except an aerial H/K's. The second is we fight as an coordinated force. From reports, if you're fighting 5000 terminators, your fighting 5000 individual fights, they do not coordinate well. Once everyone reports ready to attack, I'll give the order to advance." Thinking of something Sky Net would not recognize, John picked some appropriate ones from an anime he'd seen and said, "The words will be, "Panzer Vor."

.

After the meeting, Jesse eyed the sexy shaped metal following Derek around. It was tempting to go up behind her, shock her with a tazer then pull out and stomp on her chip to break Derek's fixation on her. She could not do it now, she'd bide her time. Eventually, she'd get her chance to destroy that bitch.

.

Derek returned to his troops in Texas, which from here, was going to be a 15 hour ride. He was also going to enjoy going back to warmer weather and a very much warmer house. On the way, he huddled up to get some sleep. Dreamily, he sensed warmth in front of him. He wrapped himself around the warmth and had dreams of cuddling with Laura in the big bed in his bedroom in Texas.

Seeing Derek sleeping as he hugged himself for warmth. Laura had laid down across the seats and put a blanket over them. She turned up her body temperature to give Derek some heat. First one of his arms went over her, than the other slipped under her head. He pulled her to him and hugged her. Laura snuggled back into him.

"You are so sexy," Derek mumbled, barely audible in his sleep. One hand moved briefly, seeking her right breast. Laura guided him to it. His hand latched on.

This was a nice feeling, Laura enjoyed being held. "How far will we go," she asked quietly.

"Forever, my lovely wife," Derek mumbled softly, then snored.

Wife. Laura felt happy and nervous about that. Eventually, they were going to marry. She liked the idea, but was concerned because she didn't know how to be a wife. She needed to learn.

As the transport ran back to Texas, Laura stayed in place, enjoying cuddling with her future husband. This felt really nice.

.

Derek had a good long sleep, waking up just a couple hours from their base. He found a blanket over him. He figured that was why he was nice and warm. Laura was up between the front seats, operating the front video camera.

"I'm not seeing anything in the direction you indicated," she told the co-driver.

"See that snow mound to the right? It was beside that," he told her. "It was a flash of silver."

"It could be one of ours," Laura noted. Her right arm morphed into a plasma cannon. "Driver, approach that mound slower."

Derek sat up. "Laura, what is it?" he asked.

"We don't know yet," she replied.

"There!" the driver said. A T-800 stepped out. It stopped and raised and arm, motioning them to stop.

"Stop by him," Laura said and opened the hatch to stick her upper body out.

The terminator eyed her then said, "TX, resistance model. You may proceed," It stepped back out of they way and motioned them on.

"Thank you," Laura said and got back down, shutting the hatch behind her. She turned to Derek and said, "Perimeter guard, General. No need for concern."

"Almost home," Derek said. "That was a short trip."

"You slept most of the way," Laura reminded him, wearing a crooked grin.

"I'll be set to get some work done then," Derek said with a yawn. He did have a good sleep with pleasant dreams. He just wasn't going to share his dreams of making love with Laura with anyone.

Getting back to the house, Derek checked on the progress of the boats. The 'speedboat' was in the water at dock and painted a dull gray that matched ocean water, with dull white striped scattered about. one boom was down, laid along the side, the other by the dock was raised, holding the plank to get on and off the boat. It was lower than it had been. The bridge and upper deck was gone, replaced by a smooth cover. He could see a round hatch in the front that was closed. Farther back was a rectangular hatch. The Ex-fishing boat looked sleek.

"That looks different," Derek noted as he went down the dock to inspect it.

The TX man turned and cast him a smile. "Hello, General. Besides putting in the stronger engines, coating the outside above the waterline with ceramics, and adding weapons as you wanted, we too off the top parts that are not needed any more. In the front is a dual plasma canon, back here is the missile launcher. They both raise up so until needed, they do not add to the radar signature. The hull was covered first with ceramic, then a carbon fiber mix we found. It is not radar proof, but will absorb enough to obscure it at longer distances. The sensors are on a retractable mast, as well as hull mounted sensors."

"Very nice," Derek said absently. "It looks bad-ass."

"Care to see the inside, General?" the TX asked.

"Lead the way," Derek told him.

On the ship, Derek noted a larger set of hatch doors in the middle for loading cargo and men to exit quickly if they were being put ashore. Another hatch in the sloped middle opened up to shot stairs down into the craft.

The inside was much rougher looking that the outside. Still, it wasn't the same boat any more. Straight ahead was the command center with monitors, the helm and weapons control consoles. It was then he saw the torpedo control console. Every console had seats with arm rests and seat belts.

"Two torpedo tubes in the bow," the TX said. "Eight torpedoes on board in an auto loading system. When one fired, another is loaded in. Cycle time is ten seconds."

"This is bad-ass," Derek said absently.

"Air, surface and underwater weapons, and it's low to the water," Laura said. "It reminds me of a Stug."

The TX smiled at her and said, "With the success of the Stug design, we strove to maintain similar characteristics, while maintaining the needs of ocean going combat."

"How many of these can we make?" Derek asked.

"Two more are being made, General. On the submarine project, we found several steel tanks 14 feet in diameter that are no longer in use. We cut the ends off and welded the tanks together. We are on the process of working out where the equipment will go, and the reinforcing of the tanks to provide a proper hull," the TX explained.

"Outstanding work," Derek praised. "Please let everyone involved know you have all done a superb job."

"Thank you, General! I will let everyone know," The TX beamed.

Meeting with his Majors inside the house, Derek got the latest on Sky Net.

Gentry pointed to Houston on the map. "Lots of Sky Net here. We couldn't get a good look but we did see a tanker come in. They go that place surrounded with guards, Terminators, fixed guns and H/K tanks. We didn't see any flying H/K's but we're sure they are present. The refinery to the north east is also crawling with everything Sky Net has. This is a big one, with plenty of storage tanks. There are others around the area, and up farther north. We were wondering where Sky Net was. Well, they're here."

"I see," Derek said. Sky Net here was going to be a tough nut to crack. He was going to have to recall Jacobson to help. He would also need artillery to destroy the refineries. "All right, let's get all the information we have to General Connor, ASAP. Laura, go tell the ship workers we need those boats in the water, ready to fight ASAP, the sub project is on hold until those boats are ready. We'll need crews for them. I want to know the minute they are finished."

"Yes, General," Laura said and left.

In a mussing tone, Derek said, "We use the boats to sink whatever is in dock and destroy their ability to bring oil in while the refineries are under attack. We'll need H/K's of our own , artillery and lots more men down here. This isn't a 'let's go see what's there mission any more."

"General?' Gentry asked watching him intently.

Derek told him, "We've been ordered to attack, all units. We are to remove Sky Net from Texas. This is going to be one long battle."

.

John was taking reports as they came in. For the northern force, it was mostly open terrain and radio towers and isolated facilities that had to be dealt with. The 10,000 men of the Denver / Charlie force led by Jesse was to go into the string of radio towers, cut comms then make a solid defense line as far north as possible. Finding some TOW missiles ,land mines and claymores in Gentry's old army depot, those were to be used to stiffen this line

John reminded Jesse they needed scouts to watch the refinery to the north for movement. She had to be dug in before Sky Net units arrived.

Directly south of them, Jacobson was to move south and hit every Sky Net unit they came across. The only way they were to stop, was when they got their feet wet in the gulf. Then they were to await orders on which way to go next.

Derek was reinforced by Delta and Foxtrot, as well as H/K's and the long range artillery. He was to blow up the tank farm north of Houston and disable the ports and take out as many units as he could from the western Sky Net defenses. John was hoping to hold those Sky Net units there near the shore to keep them out of Jacobson's fight.

Catherine Weaver was setting force of humans, terminators and Stugs to back attack any large Sky Net force opposing them.

John noted that he had 61000 men and terminators, 20 artillery and a mass of Stugs and even ten M1 tanks to make this assault. Derek, Jacobson and Gentry were well versed on tactics, and Weaver was experienced also.

He was hoping it would be enough.

.

While he waited for everyone to get assembled and in place,, John was a nervous wreck. He could just see this plan failing, and the all the places he'd worked so hard to build, fall back into Sky Net hands. If he wasn't aggressive though, Sky Net would be.

Cameron did her best to sooth him and assure him this was the right move. Sky Net wasn't expecting a mass attack.

The day came when everyone reported being in place. From Jesse in the north, to Derek in the south, everyone was ready and waiting.

John gripped Cameron's hand hard as he raised the mike to his mouth. He said, "All units, this is John Connor … Panzer Vor!"


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 14

Sky Net segment south was keeping on constant contact with Sky Net east. The digital radio transmissions were slow, they took 30 seconds to get back and forth. Not having heard from the west segment for too long they concluded something was wrong. Fearing something may have happened, all their units were near vital facilities.

The south segment sent the latest information on fuel deliveries and projected output. It waited for the reply. A reply never came. First conclusion, a radio tower was malfunctioning. It sent a repair crew out by rail to get that tower up and running again, then report when it was finished.

Then a report came in that bombs were landing on the tank farm, blowing up oil storage tanks. The ordinance was coming from the east. It sent it's H/K's out to find and destroy what had to be a human attack. It then rolled out 20 H/K tanks with terminator support to ensure the humans were wiped out.

The next report was from a oil rig facility in the north, near the human city of Dallas. Humans in large numbers were attacking. Before the transmission was complete, to state the numbers involved, the transmission stopped.

The South segment determined the bombardment of the tank farm was a diversion. The attackers to the north were 80 miles away. Plenty of time to stop the humans to the east, and meet the northern attack. Just to be sure, it moved the majority of it's forces to protect the refineries outside the city.

.

The TX Gary had all three boats finished and out in the bay, motoring slowly towards the docks at Houston, not 15 mile away. In the center boat, he listened for the order to attack.  
He picked up a signal.

"This is General Reese, Panzer Vor."

"Power up to full speed," Gary said on his discreet channel. He watched the horizon and raised the sensor mast. Getting data, he lowered it back down. There was a ship about to enter the port. He set his right hand boat to destroy that ship's engine room, then return to formation.

Speeding on, the port came into view, as did the ship. He listened to the report of two torpedoes fired. They passed the ship, and the back of the ship was covered by water blasting up in the air. A mile out, he ordered all weapons readied. The hatches raised up on all three boats, showing the plasma guns in front and the missile launchers in back.

Selecting the ship tied up to dock, he had the ship and the dock targeted with plasma fire. An H/K flew into sight, then another. Missiles shot out to meet them.

Taking a long turn in the harbor, the three boats raced around, setting docks on fire and sinking anything that floated. More missiles into oil tanks made them burst open and spill out burning oil. Plasma guns took out a communications tower. The return fire from a few plasma bolts ticked off the hulls. Two more torpedoes hit the back of the docked tanker, punching holes in it.

When Gary saw no more targets to hit, he led his boats back out of the harbor at high speed. Two miles out, three more H/K's chased them and ate missiles for their trouble.

.

In Texas, Sky Nets were still searching for where it figured were at least 100,000 humans had gone. John Connor had been here, and Sky Net did not want him to get away

Major Gentry sat in his Stug, the sensor mast raised all the way up to peek over the ridge he and Group A were hiding behind. To their left the pounding of the artillery sounded out. In a stream bed closer to the left, a half mile away were the line of M1 tanks, sitting with only the tops of their turrets over the stream banks. Straight ahead, beyond them was Group B. Their infantry was spread out to their east, the direction Sky Net would be coming from to ensure they didn't get caught in the side.

The bombardment was going on for an hour now. After the tank farm was covered with shells, the artillery had targeted the train depot and pounded that with the long range high explosive shells. Watch was being kept for the arrival of Sky Net forces that was sure to come.

The radio announced, "H/K tanks spotted approaching first target area. Switch to armor piercing shells and stand by."

Gentry looked out at the third targeted area, which was a mile in front of the tanks. Knowing Sky Net could track the origin of the big 160 MM shells the artillery was dropping on them, they had set up an ambush when Sky Net sent out units to stop the bombardment.

"Sky Net forces entering first target area ... commence fire!"

Again the pounding of the guns sounded out. Gentry couldn't see anything yet of Sky Net, but did see the smoke from shell hits. The pounding went on for a short while then the order to cease fire and adjust aim to second target area.

On the horizon to the east, Gentry now saw the forms of tall H/K tanks coming into view. He watched them approach. As they closed he noted there were two lines of them with terminators marching between and behind the tanks. Counting, he saw 31 H/K tanks. They rolled closer, then the order to fire was given to the artillery.

This time with the pounding, Gentry saw the eruptions of ground as shells landed, and the sparks and fires caused on H/K tanks when they were hit and rolled to a stop. As the H/K's lost numbers from the bombardment, the M1's rolled up partway out of the stream bed and began firing. The M1 shells hit and punched through the H/K armor. H/K's fire back, as did terminators. For all the rain of plasma being poured at the M1's Gentry only saw one hit, a plasma round glanced skyward from hitting the steeply angled armor. The H/K's lost numbers, the remainder kept coming on.

"Cease fire, adjust aim for third target area, load high explosive."

The M1's were rolling up, shooting, then dropping back down. Six H/K tanks were left. The H/K's drove right in front of Gentry's position.

Third target area ... Commence fire!"

An M1 was hit as it rose up to shoot. armored bits flew as plasma rained upon it. It got it's shot off, then exploded, the turret lifting up in the air. Many terminators were being blown skyward by the impacting artillery rounds. Many more kept moving forward, shooting, as did the last four H/K tanks.

Far off, Gentry noted an air battle was taking place. Plasma and missiles raced though the air as the dots shot at each other. explosions flickered in the sky, followed by dark trails falling to the ground.

Gentry got on his radio. "Standby, guys," he said.

"Artillery, cease fire! Stugs, go!"

Gentry said in his mike, "A group, B group, attack!"

Up and over the ridge they went. A group poured fire into the sides of the H/K tanks and the terminators. One H/K lost it's tracks, another was hit in the back and caught fire. Driving just behind the H/K's The Fifth Cavalry shot and ran over terminators and disabled the last H/K tanks. With the big Sky Net tanks gone, the M1's rolled up out of the stream bed and joined the melee, shooting their .50 cals to disable terminators and running them over.

In another fifteen minutes of close in battle, the last terminators were disabled. Gentry reported their success to General Reese and reformed his troops to head for the city.

.

Jesse's Stugs took out the radio towers, then she and her troops on sleds being pulled by Stugs went north on the railroad tracks. She watched for the perfect ambush spot as they went. Seeing a railroad bridge, she had the Stugs stop. Standing on the first Stug, she gave her Captains their orders.

"Hector, I want that that bridge to blow just as a train passes over it. Tracks and framing, I want a good train wreck! Steve, set the claymores on this side of the stream. Mario, start digging in, sixty yards back from the stream. Ellen, set up watches to both sides. Chester, get your Stugs 80 yards back, cover them with snow for camo. Let's GO People!"

For the first hour of the battle, Jesse's forces dug in and set explosives. She put her troops in two defensive trenches, the Stugs, now covered over in snow were behind them. Once they were set, Jesse made sure their flanks were covered.

Then, they waited.

When Gentry was reforming to move on to the city, Jesse watched a truck with terminators in it roll along the train tracks. She had the tracks torn up behind them when they destroyed the first radio tower, These terminators were going to roll over the bridge and set off the explosives. "Shit," Jesse spat as they did just that. The truck went onto the bridge, the explosion lifted it and chunks of bridge into the air, then rained back down in pieces into the frozen stream. Jesse had a team of men 'finish off' the terminators. They pulled the chips and destroyed them. Jesse could just not get behind the 'save the terminators' idea. If metal got dead in a battle, they should stay that way, just as human did.

She waited for an assault that never came.

.

Major Jacobson was making his way south, but for every mile, it was getting tougher. Another batch of T-800's and H.K tanks. He made contact, formed a line, then had the Stugs run around behind the Sky Net forces while his men faced them. After the first ten hours, they had made 15 miles when they needed to make hundreds. He reported his position to the generals, then found a camp for the night.

.

Gentry finished his day by making the outskirts of the decimated city that was once called Houston. From the broken teeth looking buildings to the blackness of the frozen ground, it looked like he was leading his men into hell. Finding fixed gun positions, He had artillery fire brought down on each gun until it was destroyed. A minor charge of around 200 terminators came out shooting. They were shot down mostly by his troops from under cover.

.

The South Segment knew Humans were here in force. The attacks kept coming from the north and humans with long range support were visible beyond the eastern parts of the city. They seemed to be destroying everything it sent after them. It was safe to assume the northern humans had cut communications to the north. The oil tank farm was ablaze, refineries were shut down due to damage. The port was destroyed, which meant the humans were intent on continuing their attacks.

Getting directional findings on each transmission and triangulating the source. The Segment concluded humans were to the west and north. This was a human attempt to destroy or take over the oil production for the region. Using the eastern radio relays, it send a status report to the East Segment, including the locations of the human forces and the estimated human strength.

This time it got a reply and instructed the Southern Segment should hold, assistance was coming. They planned they counter-attack between them.

.

So close to Sky net forces, Derek sent a message by carrier to John on how they faring at the moment, and his plans to prod Sky Net to send out more of their troops to be sent out so they could be destroyed on the open fields. Jacobson was doing well, and Jesse was holding her line. As far as he could see, this Sky Net was isolated.

The M1's got close enough to the city to assist the artillery coming down and guide it as they shot at the fixed Sky Net guns, the Stugs watched to the sides. Although there was some return plasma fire, it was from behind buildings and fortifications. Apparently, Sky Net had learned not to charge out in a head on attack. Gentry had his forces keep up the pressure until the M1's were getting low on ammunition. He had to pull back a few miles and disengage so they could re-supply. They retired to their camp for the night, posting a large guard force.

.

On his front, Jacobson was meeting smaller Sky Net units one at a time and destroying them. After another 20 miles of this, he found the next refinery abandoned. Setting charges, they blew it up after they left. Another ten miles of nothing, and they made camp for the night.

.

Catherine, who had her H/K's fight the Sky Net H/K's was down to half her forces, 11 units, but had cleared the skies of Sky Net units. That night, Catherine and her machines set up a radar station to cover the wide area between Jacobson and Jesse, and north of Jesse to warn of any incoming. At 4 Am something was detected. On the ground and moving fast. The mile long snake like image could only be one thing. Catherine send a fast messenger, to warm Jesse a train was coming. She also got her her units up and moving towards Jesse's position.

By the time Jesse got word it was coming, the train was moving at 60 MPH and was only two miles away. A long train moving that fast was going to make one hell of a mess when it hit that bridge. Calling an alert, Jesse ordered everyone to the second defense line, and right after the crash, everyone who had a flare gun was to light up the area with star flares over the wreck. Jesse had no more than given out her orders, when a long shape was spotted coming at them fast.

"Secondary defense trench, NOW!" Jesse screamed and jumped in. Her troops hurried to comply, the Stugs by the tracks backed up and to the sides.

The AI driver saw the unusual shape of the tracks ahead and only 400 yards from the stream, it did put on the brakes. Too little, way took late. It hit the emergency brakes at 310 yards. which also hardly slowed down the heavy behemoth. The lead engine dropped off the racks were the bridge use to be. It rammed the far steam bank. The engine and all the cars pushed it on, plowing up bank and pushing rains in the air as the engine compacted and distorted. The second engine was lifted up. Rails flew in the air as the lead engine tumbled upside down. The second engine flipped vertical and to the side, the next flatbeds with two H/K tanks each on them, a total of 100 H/K's folded and buckled, being force to the sides as the train collapsed upon itself.

The brake system failed when the engines broke free. With the ear screeching noises, cars heavy with H/K's and terminators smashed into each other. A flatcar with two H/K's on it was pushed over the wrecked engines to land across the first defense ditch. Mines went off adding to the chaos and caused an upside down H/K to catch fire. The ground trembling crashing and screeching lasted a few minutes, then everything went strangely quiet.

"FLARES" Jesse screamed.

The flares shot skyward over the massive wreck. With H/K tanks on their sides and tops in the stream and the mass of twisted metal in front of her, Jesse couldn't see over the mess. "Move to the sides, shoot anything over there that moves!" Jesse commanded.

It was a bad night to be a terminator. Men and Stugs moved and took aim. Aerial H/K's appeared near the back of the train, now only a quarter mile way, and shot down on the cars in the back as terminators piled out. Men with their .50 cal rifles were picking off terminators one after the other. The terminators move to attack the threat, and faced plasma fire from the more men and the Stugs. There were a mass of terminators and bunched up, not clear of the train wreck yet. Easy targets. As attacking terminators tripped over those who'd just fallen, the wise thing would have been to retreat and reform. Being terminators, and knowing they had to attack, they did. They came forward slowly, due to the mess of terminators on the ground and the constant rain f fire on they. As terminators fell in waves, an H/K hovered over the H/K tanks to shoot down on any that showed they were capable of moving, only stuck in the mess.

The Star flares were burning out, but now enough fires were burning to reflect off the slowly charging terminators. Men were hit and were killed, most all head wounds that removed part of all of their heads. Many terminators were falling before they even got a shot off. The mass did make it into the stream. Coming up the other side the first ones were blown back by the claymores exploding right in front of them. They also exposed their head and shoulders before being able to shoot back, causing them to picked off. The stream bed was filling up with disabled terminators. Many that managed to make it to the other side of the stream stepped on mines.

The last terminator shots came as the black sky began to lighten. After the last shot, all was quiet briefly, then a roar of cheering arose. Jesse was happy too, she had stopped an entire train load of Sky Net reinforcements. She immediately sent a Stug to go inform Jacobson and Reese. Their back was secure.

.

The boat crews were all TX's so Derek had sent them out that night to travel east of Houston and see what transportation routes they could destroy. Gary and his crews went fast down the coast. The highway coming from Galveston island was on tiny islands and bridges. He found a long one to cut a section out of, making that highway useless. Cruising around Galveston, the went into the bay and moved slow and quiet past Houston until he found Another highway bridge. Cutting the supports underneath, they dropped two sections into the bay, along with an H/K tank. Slipping up the bay farther, they chopped a third bridge into the water. Terminators were shooting at them now, so they shot back as the fled.

Thankfully, the ceramics held out long enough for them to get away.

.

In the morning Derek was happy Sky Net reinforcements had been stopped. However, the jig was up now. Sky Net knew the resistance was active. Up to now, they had manage to do fast, sneak attacks. It wasn't 'sneak' any more. Sky Net knew they were here. Houston was partially cut off, but he knew there were roads still going into it, and Sky Net was bringing in more units. Probably as many as it could.

Derek looked at his map, trying to figure out how they could possibly take Houston away from Sky Net. He was expecting Catherine Weaver to show up. What he wasn't expecting, was to see John and Cameron come in.

"John?" Derek said in disbelief. "You shouldn't be here, there' a shitload of Sky Net getting ready to come at us."

"How'd we do?" John asked.

Derek let out a snort and said, "Besides letting them know we're here and causing a big mess all over the place, we didn't get very far," Derek said plainly. "Yeah, we won every battle, but we didn't get into the city."

"Did we ruin Sky Net's oil supply?" John asked.

"We put a really big dent in it. The harbor's been hit, five refineries and the oil storage tanks in the area," Derek said. "Destroyed a couple hundred H/K tanks, H/K's and a couple thousand terminators."

John nodded and said, "Then we gave Sky Net a good, solid slap in the face. Yes, Sky Net knows we're here now. It also knows we have effective forces and to come after us is going to be expensive. Not knowing where we are once we all leave, it's going to guard what it has well before it tries to move out against us." He shrugged and said, "OK, no Atlantic submarines. At the moment, it's not that big of a deal. Showing Sky Net we're a force to be reckoned with, is. We had to expose ourselves some time. At least we have facilities to make our own weapons and not have to scavenge them. Though, Scavenging helps too."

"True," Derek admitted. "So, now what?"

"We vacate the area and go back to looking for survivors in Kansas. If we find a nice, juicy Sky Net target, we hit it. If not, then we just disable and collect the units we can," John said. "We've been winning because we make Sky Net come after us."

"Very true," Catherine said.

"So we call retreat?" Derek asked.

"We do. No radio comms, by messenger. We want Sky Net to think we're still here for a while. Oh, and send your boats to the Rio Grande. See if you can find a port for them were Sky Net isn't. Some place where we can put a base, if possible.

.

It took a week for Sky Net to accumulate enough forces to attack out against the humans. Every active unit it could spare, and every unit fresh from it's factories were brought together for a punishing blow. Watching for another attack, it collected an overwhelming force and attacked the humans to find nothing to fight. Only burned out H/K's and pieces of terminator. There was a common sign Sky Net units found. Sometimes it was scratched into the burnt hulls of H/K's, others it was painted on the remains of a structure. Sky Net studied these. Every one had the same drawing, a human face peeking over a wall and read : John Connor was here.

.

Upon the order to evacuate, Gary didn't want to leave the experimental submarine they were making behind. The round hull now had a conical stern with the propeller shaft sticking out, and the beginnings of a rudder and stern planes. The shaped front piece of the hull was made, but not on yet. While the rest of Derek's army was packing to leave, Gary had all their parts , tools and equipment put inside the shell of the sub, then welded the wedge shaped bow on. Sliding it into the water, it floated upright, and a look into the single hatch in the middle, it wasn't leaking anywhere they could see. It floated high in the water, but it did float. The TX's cabled onto two boats so they could tow it, and Gary let Derek know they were leaving.

Out of the harbor, Gary's boat led the other two that sailed close together, the submarine shape bobbing on the water behind them. Not knowing where Sky Net was, Gary stayed out of sight of the shore until they got close to the mouth of the Rio Grande. Finding a good route through the delta, Gary led his boats, into the river. He scanned for Sky Net transmissions and pulsed radar. So far, nothing. The snow covered banks were smooth unbroken snow on the frozen bushed and trees. No one had been here yet. Motoring along, Gary searched for possible places to use for a port. The river curved one way then the other.

Seeing a wider portion just ahead, Gary noted a piece of land stuck up a little higher. The upstream shore went straight back, looking like a natural dock, except for the brush on the bank. Seeing the water wasn't very deep, he decided to park his boats here before it got too shallow. It was wilderness, but Sky Net had no reason to come here.

All three boats and the sub-shape fit bow-on, tied up on the piece of land. The river current here was slow and the piece of land they landed at was flat. They began pulling up the ground brush to clear an area to work in. With tools from onside the sub shape, they hacked down a couple trees and stripped them down to logs to use as skids to get their sub shape out of the water. In a few days they had it up on land and were continuing work on the vital components. They also needed more materials.

There were a few places on the coast Gary had seen on their way here, and wanted a better look at to search for materials. Not knowing when they were going to made contact with General Reese again, they kept working on their latest project.

.

Visiting every town as John's army headed back for Colorado, they found quite a few towns with struggling survivors. Food for these people were frozen animal bodies or starving animals. Every person they came across had radiation sickness and disease to some extent. John noted that as time went on, the radiation was accumulating in the people they found. Even those no where near any points where bombs had gone off, people were degrading and more were being found dead, or close to.

Cameron could not hope to produce enough nanites to help the thousands suffering from radiation. She did manage to isolate her own nanite producing 'gland'. This was not a biological gland, but a tiny factory that made the microscopic machines that provided healing. This little factory inside her was only the size of a fist. If she had more of these, she could make nanites much faster.

In some small town in west Texas, Cameron sat with John at a round table in what used to be a restaurant as she puzzled about how to make more nanites.

"You look intent," John said, noting the bank, but focused look on her face.

Cameron blinked and looked at him. "Sorry, John, I was contemplating how to make more nanites, faster to protect people from radiation."

John nodded. In a solemn tone, he said, "Seems like everyone we're finding now is soaked in radiation, and it'd doing nothing but getting worse." John then noticed something. He was sitting here, in a building that had high rads, but he wasn't affected. "Cam? you're giving me nanites, that's why I haven't gotten sick, right?"

"Yes, John. The ones I give you are different, they are adjusted to your DNA," Cameron explained. "The ones I give to everyone else I can, are generic, they only work on radioactive material."

"How do you produce these naniites?" John asked.

"A cell, you would call it a gland if I was biological. It makes nanites I program it to make," Cameron explained. "In the case of the anti- radiation nanites, they feed off the radiation particles, using that for energy. The problem is, I can only make so many nanites."

"Can't you, I don't know, build another nanite producing cell... or a few?" John asked.

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "I don't know," the said thoughtfully.

"And if nanites are in someone's body, can't they use that person's DNA to adjust to that body?" John prodded.

Cameron was quiet briefly, then grew a grin. "Yes, John, that is possible. That is, if I have someone to experiment on."

Seeing Cameron grin as she eyed him, John swallowed. He knew who she had planned on experimenting on.

"I'll make it worth your while," Cameron coaxed.

"I'm sure you will. Can we get naked for these experiments?" John asked with a crooked grin.

Cameron's grin widened. "It's mandatory", she insisted.

"So, when do we start," John asked with a silly grin.

"The moment we get back to Delta base," Cameron said firmly.

"We're still in Utah," John said with a frown.

"Yes, that is a bummer," Cameron agreed.

.

Gentry's Fifth Cavalry was leading the way back to Denver. Noting their tracks in the snow from before, they were seeking out places they hadn't been to. Small towns and mountain roads that might lead to a town tucked away they had missed. Three weeks of searching, they hadn't found much. Gentry was thinking they were wasting their time when a call came over the radio.

"Major, Captain Smith here! We've got a big bunker, Chain link fences, buried guard posts it looks like and the top of a big entrance that's shut. I think it's the Cheyenne Mountain complex!"

"Smith, what's your map coordinates?" Gentry asked.

"Area nine, DA-49. The road to it starts at DA -47. There's no tracks up here. It doesn't look like anyone's been in or out since the weather changed."

Gentry announced, "Everyone in A group, Meet at area nine, DA-47. General Reese , do you copy?"

A female voice came on. "This is Laura, The General has the information ... General Reese says take a good look around before you approach."

"Understood."

In his personnel carrier, Derek said, "Driver, Get us there."

Beside the driver, Laura said, "ETA, one hour, fifteen minutes."

.

John and Cameron were set to head west back to Delta base when they got the information of Cheyenne Mountain being found. Knowing what that complex was, Cameron told John about it's importance. john wasn't as concerned about what it was used for before Judgement Day. What he saw was that If they had a large military bunker, that would greatly benefit the Resistance and be another place they could house more people in fair safety. Instead of going back to Delta to experiment and play, they turned around and headed for Denver.

.

What Derek remembered about Cheyenne Mountain was that in his previous future, it was a big Sky Net base, hence his caution in approaching the large entrance. The men approaching the entrance were covered by more men, who were covered by snipers, who were guarded on their flanks. They crept closer looking like they were about to make a major assault on the silent opening in the mountain.

Laura finally announced, "General, let me." She walked past the men kneeling down, searching for a target. Raising a hand in the air, she called, "I need two TX's to come with me!"

"Laura!" Derek cried, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going inside. Wait here," Laura replied. Clomping along in her snowshoes, she approached the entrance. Three TX's followed her. At the entrance that from father back, looked solid, Walking up to the black material, Laura found it was a tight metal mesh. She didn't even need to use a plasma shot to get through it. A punch broke a hole in it. She grabbed one side of the hole, another TX named Todd grabbed the other side. They pulled and ripped the mesh open.

The mesh had also been holding back the snow. When the mesh was ripped open it kept ripping where the show was pushing against it. The vertical wall of snow outside the mesh collapsed in. In the mini-avalanche, Laura and Todd fell in with the cascade of snow to slide down the snow and land on the concrete floor.

Laura got up and noted they were in a short piece of dark tunnel. Although there was no light, she could see fine with her infrared. The far end was indeed a large flat wall. By the seams, it was a door, but big and heavy. The curved walls of the tunnel were not smooth, but held large squares similar to the mesh they had ripped though were near the rounded ceiling.

Todd pointed to the nearest large square and said, "These are air conditioning intakes."

"They are," Laura agreed. "We should be hearing the intake fans." Looking back outside, she noted the snow wall on the other side of the mesh (where it wasn't ripped open) was about ten feet. The ceiling was only 14. Unfortunately, there were no intakes right at the entrance. She scanned the walls. There were support ribs on the curved wall-ceiling. She noted where one ran close to an intake. Laura took her snow shows off and said, "Todd, do you have any rope or a cable?"

"In the Stug," he replied and called up to the other TX who was outside, looking down the snow-ramp at them. The other TX went to get a tow cable.

Laura went over to the wall. The ribs were only an inch wide. They were steel. Bringing out her right a plasma canon, Laura turned the power low and burned a line of holes in the metal as high as she could reach. Reverting her right arm back into a forearm and hand, she hoisted herself up, using the holes she'd burned into the metal. Once the was hanging from the last one, she morphed a plasma canon out and burned a couple more holes, morphed her arm back, climbed up with the new holes. Changing back and forth from hand to plasma canon, Laura made her way up to hang below the intake.

"Laura, I have your cable," Todd called up.

Laura climbed back down, hung the middle of the tow cable around her neck, and climbed back up. A punch into the corner of the mesh and Laura made a hole, as well as shook the mesh to make dust rain down. A pull, and more dust came off as she ripped a hole large enough to get in. Reaching up in the hole, Laure felt around and found a frame piece. He pulled on it, adding more of her weight until she was hanging from it. Once she was sure it was going to hold her, she let go of the rib and pulled herself up into the duct. Looking around in the duct, she saw a catwalk above herand a door at the end. She pulled herself up onto the catwalk and used the clevis on the cable to tie the cable to the catwalk railing.

"Todd, the cable's tied off, come on up," she called.

Once Todd was on the catwalk with her she went to the narrow door at the end. Slowly, she opened the door. A few dim lights were on. She sniffed the air. It was bad. high Co2 content and low oxygen, only 12 %. This wasn't good. The room they were in was all but filled with a house-sized air conditioning unit. Seeing a control panel for the unit, she noted the power box was open. three spots inside where the fuses went was empty.

"They had no fuses?" Todd asked.

"Or, the ones they had were bad," Laura offered.

Through a doorway and they entered a long corridor. On the right, were five other doors. In the tunnel below there were six intakes. A peek into the next doorway showed another unit. The fuses in the power box in that room were gone also. The only door on the left was a maintenance room with a few machines , workbenches, parts bins and tools. There was also a box full of large fuses that looked like they went into the air handing units. In a small office here, they found a decomposed body lying beside a desk. On the desk was a note. It read, 'I maintain my hope my family is safe as Sky Net promised. It is for them I did this.'

"He disabled the air handing units," Todd surmised.

Laura went to the other end of the room. They door out was not only shut, it was welded shut. The door also bulged inward, as if someone had tried to break it down. "He also stopped anyone from restarting these units." She brought out a plasma canon and cut the door open. It fell away, and didn't quite hit the floor, but the bodies on the floor just outside that door.

Walking over the door and the bodies, Laura went down the stairs to find a control room. Again an emaciated corpse was leaned back into a chair. This one wore an officer's uniform, he'd also been shot. The air here was only 10% Oxygen. Looking over the panels, Laura also noted on the fire panel, all the CO2 cylinders were empty. They had been expended into the air. She said to Todd, "Please, go back out and inform General Reese what we found. I will restart the air units. I suspect we are going to need a burial party ... or two, depending on how many were in here. That is, once the air is good enough to let people in."

An hour after Laura got into the complex, she had the fuses back in and five of the air handlers running. Each showed the air cleaning system was working well, and the generators were operating. The massive fuel tanks were still over half full after running for nearly a year. As the air warmed up and the oxygen increased, the bodies all over the facility made themselves known by their smell. Laura opened the main doors and closed off the exhaust vents to force the bad air out of the complex. Some got recycled, but she didn't want any contaminated air to get in.

.

Once Laura had the doors open Gentry's Fifth cavalry became the 'pall bears' of hundreds of bodies that had been suffocated. soldiers, officers, men in suits that were senators and businessmen, and many women and children, everyone who'd made it into the complex before the doors were shut and expected to live through the nuclear war. Down deeper into the complex, electric carts were found and used to help get the large amount of bodies up and out.

Derek noted that down inside the complex, this was an underground city. There were even marked roads with stop signs and painted lanes. He swore this place was bigger than the caverns back near Delta base. It even had roadway sized ramps that went between levels. Another thing he noticed was a tier below the 'top' floor, lines of army trucks, Bradley fighting vehicles and M1-A tanks sat in lines. In another section were self propelled artillery, Humvee mounted .50 cal chain guns, TOW launchers and a vast room filled with ammunition for the assembled war machines.

This complex also had a shopping mall, two tiers of overgrown 'farms' complete with chambers with dirt floors and 'full spectrum' lighting overhead. Three and four room 'houses' were carved out along concrete lined tunnels that even had street names, the houses having their own numbers. Many bodies were being pulled out of these places.

The sheer scale of this place amazed Derek. No one had ever guessed that the military part of this vast complex was only the 'tip of the iceberg' Looking in a control room on the third tier, Derek found a map of the tunnel complex. Not only was this complex five square miles and six levels deep, it also had 'travel' tunnels that went to Montana and Missouri. At the moment, the travel tunnel were sealed off. One electric train sat in the large, multi-track station.

Wait till John saw this.


	15. Chapter 15

CH 15

Sky Net was puzzled by the humans behavior. They had won the battles in Texas they had fought, and had slowed down it's reinforcements enough that they could had taken over the remaining oil production. When Sky Net attacked again, they should have stood and fought. The humans had decimated it's previous attack attempts and were well positioned. When Sky Net finally was ready and attacked, the mass of humans had gone. The only thing Sky Net could conceive was that the humans somehow knew almost all their forces were in one place.

Sky Net suddenly realized the strategy in this attack. It's factories were vulnerable, as were it's other facilities. Using history, it had determined this was a 'Kursk' type of operation like the Germans used in WW2, and responded. With the majority of Sky Net's forces guarding a mostly destroyed facility, humans were free to take out it's other facilities! It wasn't a 'Kursk' type operation, it was an attack just to lure Sky Net's forces far to the south, so humans could go around them.

Seeing this error, Sky Net immediately re-deployed it's forces all along a line heading directly north to regain contact with the humans who were most likely headed east. Also, instead of only a string of digital repeater towers to maintain communications, Sky Net began setting up a multiple tower network and had each one guarded. It also noted that many units had been burned with energy weapons. Sky Net did not know where humans got this tech, but it had to make the armor thicker with anti-heat coatings on all new units to compensate until it got the African mines working to better capacity. Killing all the humans there had been a mistake. It needed the slave power to keep mining.

Sky Net learned from it's mistakes and adjusted accordingly. It needed to collect human slaves to mine coltan.

.

The Fifth Cavalry had become the 'spear head' for the resistance. Wherever the resistance went, Gentry with his experienced men and fast Stugs went first, searching, scouting, and investigating before the rest of the army came in. It only made sense then that when the generals decided to open and use the subway tunnels in Cheyenne mountain complex, it was B group that got the job of investigating the tunnels.

The power source to electrify the tracks wasn't anywhere at Cheyenne that the techs could find, but the train depot there did have a ramp down to the tracks. Major Gentry didn't want to take all his Stugs, just in case there was a cave-in. He sent two Stugs loaded down with supplies east, and another two west. Using a couple of the flat bed cars on the side tracks, they carried barrels of water to feed the Stugs, since there was no water down here. Towing a flat car behind them also let them take more supplies that they could by piling things on top of the Stugs. Each Stug that left also had a TX with them in case they ran into trouble.

.

In the last two weeks, Cameron, Laura and some techs got Cheyenne Mountain running again. Soldiers had all the bodies (2,497) out. Digging in the frozen ground outside the complex using explosives, they buried the bodies in the ground. After the hard dirt and rock were back in place, even the snow was put back over the mass grave. Like the other graves they had made, most of those they buried were unknown, except as victims of Sky Net.

John, Derek and Catherine Weaver were inspecting the military equipment here. Most of it needed to be modified. The Bradley fighting vehicles were designed as troop carriers, but the Stug/sled combination was faster, could carry more men as well as whatever they could get on the sled. The Stugs were also more heavily armed. even the tracks on the Bradley's were too narrow to tackle the deep snow. They were slated to become parts and material for making more Stugs. Humvees were great all terrain vehicles, those were saved for when the resistance moved to go far south into Mexico and central America. That was a future plan, once Sky Net was gotten rid of in North America. The M1's were serviceable, but not needed for the moment, and they did require gasoline, which was in short supply. The artillery was all towed 155 MM guns. They did have literally tons of 155 MM shells, so those also became a reserve weapon.

Cheyenne city, which was what now what they called the vast complex underneath the military complex, was getting residents. Mary the Gardening Supervisor came from the Caverns to help tame the wild gardens and Sarah arrived to organize the masses Derek's army had collected. With help from some Denver residents, some taking up residence themselves, the near 10,000 people were given food and their own houses, along with medical treatment.

Cameron did get a chance to 'experiment' on John in their quarters in the second level of the military complex. Her experiment along with some cuddling and sex, was to put generic nanites into John to see if her program worked, as well as making an extra nanite producing gland for herself. The nanites did read and become adjusted to John's DNA, the extra nanite production gland did form and produced nanites like Cameron wanted.

After Cameron determined the test was a success, she went to the packed-full hospital and selected ten people to administer the nanite treatment to. They were suffering from radiation sickness, stage 4. Their hair and teeth were gone, they were skinny, going blind and could not rise of their beds by themselves.

Using a cup and an eye dropper to draw out small amount of the nanite rich fluid, Cameron squirted one eyedropper into a woman's mouth as she lay stating at nothing.

"This for a mercy kill?" the woman asked weakly.

"Negative, if it works, it will heal you," Cameron explained.

The woman coughed out a weak grunt. "We are doomed. Just finish me."

A strong voice beyond the bed asked, "Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing to my patient?"

Cameron stood up and turned to the woman with the long red hair, and was wearing a white lab coat. "I am General Cameron Connor. I have a mix that may cure radiation sickness. The only way I know if it will work is to test it."

"Is that so?" The woman said raising an eyebrow. "Just what is this miracle snake oil you are giving to my patients?"

"It is not snake oil," Cameron said and moved to the next bed. "It is a mix of fluid nutrients and nanites. A healthy body can repair itself, those with radiation sickness cannot. The nanites take the place of the missing white blood cells and the body's natural repair function."

"Stop!" the red head barked as she glared at Cameron, who was about to administer another eye dropper to a bald, man who was barely breathing. "It will not have my patients be used as guinea pigs! If I have to, I will have security remove you!"

Cameron squirted the eye dropper into the man's mouth, then stood up and said, "No you won't, doctor. These people are dead already unless this works. It is their only hope."

The red head marched to the doorway and called, "Victor, I need you in here." Returning to the next bed where Cameron was giving another woman our eyedropper of the milky white fluid, she said, "You will stop now, or Victor will stop you."

Cameron ignored her and moved on to the next bed.

"Doctor Brewster, what do you need?" a man in a lab coat asked as he came in.

Doctor Brewster pointed at Cameron and said, "Remove her from the hospital."

Victor looked at Cameron and asked "What are you doing, General?"

Cameron glanced at him and explained, "I am giving these patients nanites I developed in a nutrient mix I formed in my mammary glands. They are designed to adjust to the patient's DNA, then form a nanite production gland near their stomachs to remove radiation in the patient and repair any damage to their system."

"Breast milk?" Doctor Brewster asked, staring at Cameron. "You're trying to heal them with breast milk?"

Victor tipped his head slightly to the side. "That is very inventive, General. Seeing the condition of these patients, their DNA structure may well be breaking down, which means some damage may not be repaired."

"That is possible," Cameron agreed. "I have a good base DNA sequence from John, and of course my own DNA for the nanites to use as a base template. The risk is that the nanites may not complete their tasks before the patient expires."

"That is why you are testing it on the worse patients first," Victor said.

"Yes, to find the point of no return. I can only make so much volume of mammary secretions, so I have to determine the most effective use of my limited supply," Cameron told him.

"It is possible to manufacture these nanites artificially?" Victor asked.

"Not outside a functioning body. Once successfully planted, nanites can perform inside a body, terminator or human, but they need nourishment and minerals to function and reproduce."

"WHAT are nanites?" Doctor Brewster asked, "AND VICTOR, WHY AREN'T YOU REMOVING HER LIKE I TOLD YOU TO?"

Victor turned to her and said, "Doctor, this is Cameron Connor, second in command of the resistance and has made innovative solutions as important as John Henry has. She may have found a permanent cure for radiation sickness."

"Victor," Doctor Brewster said with a huff, "The FDA has ruled that human products cannot be ingested. She cannot give her breast milk to anyone besides her own family."

"Doctor, there is no more FDA, and these people need help," Cameron replied.

"Cameron is correct, Doctor," Victor added.

"I am almost done," Cameron told them. "I'll return tomorrow to administer to more people. Please monitor these people and feel free to choose candidates you feel would be appropriate."

Doctor Brewster, arms folded over her chest, watched Cameron give another patient an eyedropper of her breast milk, The cup was empty. After Cameron left, she asked, "Victor, is she a scientist? Did she invent these nanite things?"

"No, Doctor, Cameron modified the nanites, but she did invent them," Victor explained.

"How does she get them into her breast milk? They would have to be in her body already," Kathy Brewster pointed out.

"They are. Human shaped AI machines are made with nanites in their systems," Victor explained.

Doctor Brewster eyed him and asked, "Then, how did she get them?"

"Cameron is a terminator," Victor told her proudly. "She is an older model, but she is one of the most developed AI's."

"That woman isn't human?" Doctor Brewster asked. "These AI's can look completely human?"

Victor tipped his head slightly. "Yes, Doctor. Cameron is TOK-715. I am TX-031."

Kathy Brewster stared at him. "I never would have guessed. Are there many of you around?"

"As of my last contact with John Henry, 520 TX's and 2,360 re-programmed T-800's, John Henry is a T-888, Cameron Connor is TOK-715, and Mrs. Weaver is a T-1001," Victor explained.

"Weaver is one too? Where did they come from?" Kathy asked weakly. She had known about Catherine Weaver for years before the bombs dropped.

Victor explained the first time line and how Cameron and Catherine Weaver had come back in time to help humanity survive and ensure the future of free machines.

This was the first time Kathy Brewster had ever heard this.

.

The most developed AI walked into her quarters and sat at the table beside John. They shared a kiss.

"How'd it go?" John asked.

"It will take a couple days for the nanites to do any visual good," Cameron explained. "The extra mammary does produce nanite enriched nutrients, but I am concerned it does not look appealing to you, John."

John offered her a smile and said, "You are doing it to help people, Cam. That is very noble of you." That third breast a little lower and in between her other two breasts did look strange but he had agreed with her to try it. He didn't mind the third boob at all, in fact at times he found it very erotic. The thing was, he didn't want her covered in boobs. That thought made him shudder. "You can share what you did with other terminators, the TX's, so they can produce these nantes also?"

"If it works, yes. Every female terminator will be able to produce nanite rich milk," Cameron said firmly. After a short pause, she added with a crooked grin, "I have figured out a way for the male formed terminators to produce ..."

"Cam!" John said quickly as he winced, "One thing at a time." He did NOT want to imagine where the 'male milk' would come from.

"Any word on The tunnel scouts?" Cameron asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Just that they are 30 miles out and seeing nothing but tunnel," John told her. "They could go faster, but then if they ran into something blindly, it could be bad."

"This will extend out ability to move greatly," Cameron noted.

John slipped an arm around her as he said, "It will. It will also extend our ability to take in more people. I talked to Mom, there's more babies being born. She has started a school in the Caverns and some people got together and started a band. There is also now an official 'Way Point clock'. It's not the size of Big Ben, but it is big enough to be seen anywhere in the center cavern. The hands and the numbers are illuminated. From what she said, it's a big hit. The admins are even planning a festival in the near future."

"Side tunnels can be added also. The rock down this deep is solid," Cameron offered as she gazed at John.

John met her eyes and kissed her again. "I don't think we got anything going for a few hours ... with other people I mean," he said and cast her a grin.

"So you want to do some drilling?" Cameron asked impishly.

"Let's call it exploratory probing," John said, grinning at her.

Cameron giggled. She kissed him and said in a silky tone, "They you better have a hard tool." She slipped up out of the chair.

John got up and hugged her, steering her onto the table. "I need you, baby."

"I'm here," she said softly. They kissed again, longer this time. In their hug, Cameron wrapped her legs around John and pulled him close.

.

It wasn't exactly church services, but since there was no other pastors/priests or any religious figures to be found, Mr. Ellison took on the task of being the religious leader for humans and teacher of morals for the new TX's. One question that always came up during his speaking time was about the commandment "Thou shall not commit murder".

A new dark skinned TX asked, "Murder is willfully stopping the life functions of another. How can we fight and destroy other AI's? Won't that be murder?"

Mr. Ellison said, "That is a very good question. Murder is the act of killing someone without good cause. Let's say if Jamie there stabs Lucas over there. She just walked up and killed him. That is murder. Now if Lucas is trying to choke Jamie and kill her, and her only option to stop him is to stab him to keep him from killing her, that is self defense. Yes, she kills Jamie, but it was not murder. It is the same thing out on the battle field. Our troops try to disable the enemy, be they human or machine. So far, 4,500 terminators have been disabled and will continue to live after they go though reprogramming, and are set to read/write so they can think for themselves. Remember, the enemy is shooting at our troops. If they can stop Sky Net troops by disabling them, they do. In that attempt, if they do kill some, then it is not murder, because they were meaning to disable, not destroy. Do you understand?"

The TX said, "Yes, if a thinking being is destroyed by one of us on the battlefield, it was an accident, not a deliberate attempt to cease life functions."

"Correct. It also may be a case of, if you did not kill the enemy, they would kill you. That is still self defense, and not murder," James Ellison told him. "The way to know for sure if you a morally right to apply what is known as 'deadly force', is to follow what John Connor's rule states. Deadly force should be used only in defense of your life, or the life of another, and there are no lesser means available, or can reasonably be employed. In other words, taking someone else's life is your last option to keep yourself, or the other person you are trying to protect, from dying."

All the TX's nodded in understanding.

"Does Sky Net practice the same rules in combat?" a blonde woman asked.

Mr. Ellison shook his head and said, "No, Sky Net is out to destroy anything it does not control. Mrs. Weaver will tell you, even it's own forces. If they disobey or do not strictly follow orders, they are destroyed. Sky Net wants to kill you, me, everyone here. That is why we are fighting back as hard as we can. Sky Net is out to murder everyone."

"Sky Net is evil," the TX concluded.

"It is," Mr. Ellison agreed.

Mr. Ellison went on with his talk to the new TX's and children about the ten commandments and the teachings of Jesus like he did every week. Catherine Weaver and John Connor were working to save peoples' lives. He was doing his part to save souls. He didn't know if AI's had a soul, but on the chance that they did, he didn't want them left out of heaven.

.

Sargent Willis rolled along in his lead Stug, watching the tunnel ahead. Or the last few days, this was his only view. To push along a little faster, they took shifts. Either he or the TX, Fred, was leading them, and either the right side man in front was driving, or the one on the left. They were all eager to see what was at the end of this tunnel, and also were getting tired of riding down it.

Ahead of them, the lights of the Stug lit up the tunnel for a good 50 yards. The headlights had three settings, low, medium and high. The high beams were pale blue, very bright lights for combat. Terminators and H/K's glowed when hit with these lights, making them easier targets. Low yellow was for snow storms. Medium were normal car-type headlight to see where they were going.

They were in a straight stretch he swore went on for miles and miles. At the end now, he say a light beyond his headlights.

"Guys, wake up, we go something ahead!" he called and got on the radio. "Pete, we're slowing, there 's a light up ahead."

"Not an oncoming train, is it?"

"No, it's stationary. Driver, slow down and stop. Kill the headlights."

The slowed to a stop, the headlights went out. Sargent Willis popped his head and shoulders up out of the hatch.

"The light is stationary," Fred told him. "I can see what looks like a train station, landings on both sides of the tracks. No movement."

Sargent Willis thought on how to approach that station. Someone was there. It could be humans or terminators. "Fred, scoot down on the back and stay low. Pete! I'm going up. Stay here while I check it out."

"Be careful, Bob," Pete called back.

"You can count on it. Driver, ahead slow, creep us in to take a look-see."

"I should go," Frank stated.

"You're the lat one I want to loose, Frank. Stay low," Sargent Willis stated.

They crept on, tracks making a clattering sound on the steel rails. Just before they got to the opening, Willis swore he heard voices. "Driver stop," he said. Peeking up out of the hatch he called, "Hey! Anyone there?"

Silence

"I'm Sargent Willies, Fifth Cavalry , Major Gentry commanding. Is anyone there!"

"I hear whispering," Fred said quietly. "They are wondering if you are trying to trick them."

Willis nodded. Loudly, he said, "Listen! I'm coming out so you can see me. Don't shoot!"

Willis got out of his Stud and dropped to the ground. Fred did also. Willis eyed him and decided to let him come. "Hands in the air," Willis told him. He and Fred walked into the station, hands up. As the platforms came into view, he saw the stairways up were blocked with tables and a pieces of plywood. A side room door was also blocked the same way. A few men and women eyed them over the sights of their pistols. They all wore police uniforms.

"It's the army!" A woman cried happily.

"Yeah, we're army," Willis agreed. "May I bring in my Stugs and supplies?"

"You got supplies?" a raged man asked.

"We do. We came to offer aide and assistance. If you have any sick, we have a hospital back down the tunnel we can get them to," Sargent Willis told them.

"How's you escape those metal skeleton looking things?" One man asked in a demand.

"We didn't. We've been fighting them, and kicking their asses. That's how we got here," Willis told them. He turned and yelled, "Driver, come on up, tell Pete to come up too!"

Bob Willis noted that standing here in the light, the clatter of Stug tracks was echoing off the walls, sounding ominous. No wonder these people were scared. When his Stug came into view, he swore it looked larger that it was. He and Frank moved back so his and Pete's Stugs could get the flat beds into the terminal. Once they were in, he had then stop, then climbed up on his Stug so he could get onto the left side platform.

The men and women also came out from behind their barriers. An older guy said, "Those gotta be the smallest tanks I ever saw."

"Faster and more maneuverable than any Sky Net H/K," Willis told him.

Looking closer at the armored vehicle, the old man asked, "Is that a Stug?"

"The new version," Willis said with a nod. "John Connor designed them. They are hell on the battlefield for the enemy. I lost count of how many of Sky Net's units we took out."

The old man smiled and asked, "This Connor, is he any relation to Erwin Rommel or Otto Carius?"

"Who's Otto Caruis?" Willis asked.

"My grandpa, the greatest tank commander ever!" the old man stated "He was the top tank ace of any army in World War Two! He got 156 kills he did!"

"Sounds like a dangerous man," Sargent Willis said. To everyone else, he announced, "Myself and my unit were about to be surrounded and destroyed by Sky Net forces. We were saved when John Connor's resistance army came and pounded them into scrap metal. Since then, we've been looking for other survivors to assist us and ask every able bodied person to help us in the fight against Sky Net. It doesn't have to be combat, there's plenty of support work to be done also. Is there anyone in charge here?"

The crowd looked at each other. A freckled red headed woman in a dirty police uniform shrugged and said, "Not really. We've been scrounging and just trying to stay alive. Radiation's take many of us. We got sick ones in these rooms, and more above. We need all the help we can get."

Sargent Willis got his crews out to pass out food and water, and put the supplies on the flatbed Pete was towing, so the sick could be sent back to Cheyenne City. It was then he realized something they hadn't thought about. In the station at Cheyenne city, there were six side tracks and the main track. Here only the main track ran through with platforms to each side. Platforms to each side and a flat cars behind the Stugs.

They had no way to turn their Stugs around.

"Damn it!" Willis spat as he realized the problem.

"Sargent?" a man asked.

"We have to get Pete's Stug turned around and on the other end of the flatbed!" he spat, waving an arm. "Look at it, we can't turn it around!"

Fred and Leo, the other TX, eyed the problem. they looked at each other and eye flashed briefly, then Fred said, "Sargent Willis, I believe we have a solution."

"We must remove the supplies off this flatbed to put injured people on," Leo added. "So we remove all the supplies to one side. Fred and I get down on the tracks. Pete's crew back the Stug up, we will lift it up in the back so it can climb onto the flatbed. Once on the flatbed, turn the Stug around, we will help it drive off the back."

Willis eyed them and said, "A Stug weighs four tons."

"That is writhing our capability," Leo said confidently.

"You sure?" Willis asked.

"Yes, we are sure," Fred said firmly.

Willis waved an arm and said, "Ok, guys, let's get this flat car unloaded. This side."

Many of the people down here helped with smaller items. The TX's took the water barrels and larger boxes off. Once the car was unloaded, Fred and Leo got down on the tracks and disconnected the Stug from the car.

"We are ready," Fred stated.

"Pete, back slow," Willis said and motioned him back. a crowd watched as it looked like Fred and Leo were about to get run over. They grabbed the cleats in the tracks and lifted. The back of the Stug came up. Kneeling down they guided the Stug up to contact the bed of the rail car. The Stug climbed up. Once it was half on, the two TX's pushed and the Stug rolled onto the bed. In the middle, the Stug did a 180, left track driving forward, right track reversing, and spun in place.

Now pointing back the way they had come, Pete drove his Stug to the edge. Fred and Leo got down in front and supported the Stug's tracks so it didn't fall hard when it tipped down, the eased the back down as the rear of the Stug came off the rail car. They then got the cable and bar assembly hooked back up.

"Great job, guys!" Willis said happily. "Now lets get those people down here and ready to move."

Some of the ones needing help limped down between their family members, others were carried. As the sick people were laid on the flat car, Willis saw many of the ones taking care of them were also staying on the flat car with them. Food and water was passed out and given to the ones going. All set to go, Pete towed 63 people on that flat car back to Cheyenne city. Knowing the tunnel was good, he turned on the headlights and a tail light to keep an eye on the flat car. Leo stayed on the flat car also to monitor the riders.

Instead of crawling along, Pete ran his Stug back at 40 miles an hour to get these people to the hospital.

.

Once Pete was on his way, Sargent Willis and his crew went to get a better look at where this train station was. Seeing the thin red head police officer had been hanging around him he asked her, "How do you get up to the surface?"

She shook her head. "You don't ... any more. There was a big cave in," she explained. "I'm Officer Hewitt. Sargent, you can't get to the surface."

The older man motioned up and said, "We were taking a tour of the old mines ... damn, six, seven months ago now. Forgot how long we've been down here. Anyway, we were one of two groups. We get down here and the whole place rumbled! Some rock came loose, then the entrance collapsed. We've been going lower till we reached what we think is the bottom here."

"We ran into some miners that were pretty aggressive," Officer Hewitt said sadly. "We had to shoot them. We've been wandering and found this place. there was some stored food, but even rationing, it's all but gone. We were hoping someone would find us."

"Sargent?" a voice asked. Both Willis and Hewitt turned to the voice. "Yes?" They chorused, then looked at each other.

"I mean, Sargent Hewitt," the drawn looking officer said. "We should check the upper rooms to see if anyone is left up there."

Hewitt nodded, "Go on. Take a couple guys with you. We go no where alone, right?"

"Right," the said and picked a couple other cops to go with him.

Hewitt looked over at Fred, who was putting a water barrel from the dock onto the remaining flat car. She asked, "What's up with him and that other guy? They are pretty damn strong to lift up a tank."

"They are TX's, almost every crew has one," Willis explained. Seeing her questioning look, he added, "TX's are intelligent machines. AI's. Catherine Weaver makes them to help us out. Believe me, they come in real handy. Smart too, they are pretty much mechanical people."

"They fight those metal skeleton things," Hewitt said.

"We all do," Willis agreed. "There's other things they do, like lifting heavy stuff, and their hearing and vision is much better than ours, which makes life easier on us. Fred heard you whispering to each other when we were back down the tunnel. Kinda gives us a head's up at what we're going into."

"Can you get us back to ground level?" she asked.

Willis shook his head and explained, "You don't want to do that. Besides those terminators walking around, it's cold as hell, the snow's real deep and it's radioactive up there. Before you even think about going up to the surface, we have to defeat Sky Net first. From what John Connor said, Sky Net is world wide, and we may be the only survivors ... The US I mean. We got a break, John Connor somehow took the communications satellites out. Sky Net isn't as free to act here."

"It sounds dire."

"It is. We got almost half the US back, but we don't know what is to the east, except more Sky Net," Willis told her.

Hewitt looked over at the Stug and said, "Well if you need police, I can help. I'm sure the other guys will as well."

.

While the B group of Gentry's force was searching the tunnels, Gentry and A group, now reinforced by six more Stugs, two more than they had lost in Texas, continued to scout out Sky Net positions. So far, what he was finding was a long picket line going straight north from Texas up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and most likely all the way up though the Dakotas. He had two squads keep searching for the end of the line, and returned to Derek's headquarters to inform him of the odd placement.

John met with Derek and Major Gentry. Derek pointed to the long line and said, "They have spread themselves out thin. The single units they have every quarter mile can be easily picked off. We start at one end and we can wipe that entire line away."

John frowned and said, "That should be obvious to Sky Net as well. I think Sky Net has no idea where we are. It doesn't want to attack, in Houston it found out what happens when it attacks straight out. This line was formed for us to go attack it. Major, you said you found lots of radio traffic?"

"Yes, General. That's how we found those units," Gentry agreed.

"How about signals not on this line?" John asked.

"None, sir, just up and down the line."

"It's an attempt to find us," John stated. "Most likely, someplace behind that line are concentrations of units waiting for one of the units on the line to stop transmitting, or to transmit having contact with us," John said. "Did you detect any H/K's?"

"None sir."

"That line is bait," John stated. "Do we have a recording of the transmissions?" he asked.

"Yes Sir," Gentry said.

"Derek, get your TX's to see if they can decipher what they are. My guess is that it's a simple code saying the unit is still functioning," John told him. "If we can duplicate it, we can kill a couple units, transmit their code and make a highway though their picket."

"We're on it, General," Derek said firmly.

Cameron came in with Laura and another female TX that had long red hair and a killer body. "John, I am spreading the nanite production program to female TX's," Cameron said.

"General Reese, I am assisting, so I will be spending time in the hospital," Laura added.

Derek nodded, then asked John, "What's this program?"

"Anti-radiation medicine in the form of nanites," John explained.

"I will explain in detail, later, General," Laura told Derek. "At the moment, we must go. We will return in 1.5 hours."

"We?" Gentry asked, eyeing the red head.

"Yes, all seven female TX's currently in the Complex," Laura stated, "Cameron is going to show us how to extract and administer the nanite mix and maximize production."

John rubbed the back of his neck. Oh boy, with Cam, the 'extra gland' wasn't really noticeable with her jacket buttoned up. With Laura it would be. "Carry on," he told her.

.

Doctor Brewster noted that of the ten patients Cameron had given her nanite- enriched breast milk to, one died, and the other nine were having better vital signs. The woman who had been going blind was very happy she could see people now. Things were cloudy, but she had some sight.

This time when Cameron Connor trooped in with seven other women, Doctor Brewster said, 'Nine of the ten you gave your mix to are doing better. Do you have a way to treat everyone suffering from radiation sickness?"

"Not all at once," Cameron said. Motioning to the TX women she added, "These women here volunteered to help me. If you could supply a room for us to extract our mammary secretions, we should be able to supply you with enough to cure many. Worst ones first, then eventually, a preventive does to everyone."

What Cameron was asking for was basically a human ... no, terminator dairy room. Kathy Brewster shuddered at that thought. Then again, Cameron was saving lives. "Come this way," Doctor Brewster said. She led them to a store room where she'd found breast pumps amid the many shelved items. She got one out and waved for them to follow again.

Leading then to a sink, she explained how the breast pump worked, and showed them the sample cups to use and the refrigerator nearby if the nanite milk wasn't needed right away.

"Doctor, the nanites will only survive 24 hours outside the body," Cameron explained.

"The milk must be fresh for it to be effective," Laura agreed.

"With so many people with radiation effects, it will take a long time, even with eight of you donating, to dose everyone," Doctor Brewster told them. "Just keep supplying, I will ensure your donation get to the patients."

"Thank you, doctor," Cameron said. She removed her jacket and shirt, and opened up one of the sample cups.

"Three breasts?" Doctor Brewster asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For more production," Cameron stated.

Laura removed her jacket and shirt. In between her large breasts, a third smaller breast had formed. Seeing the Doctor eye this, she looked down and said, "The center one is still growing. It will get bigger."

"At least now I know how to tell human apart from AI's ... at least the females," Doctor Brewster said with a sigh.

.

Pete got back to the Cheyenne city terminal and called for help. In a short time, a crew of medics came down and was getting people off the flat car and onto gurneys and stretchers. Pete told Captain Smith what they found. While the sick were taken up to the hospital, Pete's flatcar was loaded with some men, guns and ammo, as well as ramps in case he had to turn around again. Turning around, he hooked up and got ready to move. The Captain came to pass him a message, the men were to find out if there was a way to the surface from that train station they found. The Stug crews were to keep going. Pete promised to find out and went back to where he'd left Sargent Willis.

.

Derek had a full day of meetings and working out how to get around the Sky Net picket. Sitting in the 'officers' lunch room, he munched on a 'goat' burger with lettuce, onion and tomato on it. OK, so it wasn't a hamburger that he missed so much, but he could pretend. He also noted now that Laura wasn't hovering nearby, he missed her being around. He finished his burger and headed for his quarters. Going in, he could almost feel the lack of Laura being here, the feeling of something missing.

Laura was driving him nuts. OK, so she was fantastic eye-candy. That's why he missed her, he told himself. If Laura was human, he'd be all over that. Then again, he was very close to not giving a shit that she was a terminator. He did get along with her, and so what if he was banging metal? Even as he thought that, he wondered what the hell he was thinking. He wasn't John, he didn't go ga-ga over metal! It was the shape he was attracted to. Yeah, the shape, not Laura herself.

The temperature in his room was a little warm. Derek took off his shirt and draped it over the back of a chair, then flopped down on the bed. Hands locked behind his head, he stared at the ceiling and thought about how good it felt when he'd woken up to find he was holding Laura tight, wrapped in a spoon. He'd damn near rolled her over and gave her the high hard one. Even thinking about that, he wanted so bad to jump on that!

Sitting up, Derek shook that thought out of his head. "No beer, no whiskey, this place bites!" he grumbled. They had potatoes, maybe he could make some Vodka.

.

Sargent Willis had explored the first cavernous mine above the train station with Officer Hewitt. He found no stairs or ramps, just the elevator shaft they had climbed down. Inside the elevator shaft was a vertical ladder recessed into the wall.

"Wonderful," he grumbled. "How many levels did you come down?" he asked.

"Three. That metal skeleton thing got caught in the cave in, only it's upper torso was exposed, but it kept shooting at us!" Hewitt said in a stressed tone. "We shot back, but the bullets just bounced off it. We lost two good men."

"And that was up at the first level?" He asked.

"The ramp down into the first level," Hewitt explained. "It came out of nowhere." Motioning to his big rifle, she asked, "Can't you kill it with that?"

Willis winced ad said, "Not sure. It has memorized it's environment, and if I can't get a long range shot, I'd be hard pressed to get a shot off before it does. I don't want to risk Fred or Leo when they get back, either. Plus that terminator may have dug himself out by now. He just hadn't found the ladder down so he can kill the rest of you."

"It will do that?"

"It will. If I were you, I'd post a guard on that ladder. If it was down here, it would be shooting at us already," Willis said firmly. Turning around, he pointed back the way they came. "See the top of the stairs down to the station back there? Post him there, as out of sight from this ladder as possible." He then handed his .50 cal gun to her and said, "Use this, your little popguns won't do anything but let him know where you are."

Looking at the rifle, Hewitt said, "This is like ... an elephant gun."

Willis grinned and said, "Better. The bullets are HEAT rounds, high Explosive, Armor Piercing. About the only thing this small that will blow a hole on those terminators, and forget that ''center of body mass' stuff. You'll need to hit him square in the head to rip up electronics in there."

"Whoever shoots this thing will get their shoulder torn off," she stated.

"Naw, look at the end, it has a good muzzle brake," Willis said. He walked back to see a pair of soldiers come up.

"Sargent Willis?" one asked.

"That's me, Fifth Cavalry, B group."

"The LT wants to see you. We'll be guarding this place."

"I take it Pete's back?" he asked.

"Yup, I think you guys are suppose to move on."

Willis took his rifle back. "Think I'll be needing this," he told her.

"I should come with you," Hewitt said firmly.

"Why?"

"I am medically trained, in case anyone gets hurt."

Sargent Willis laughed and said, "We have very few injuries. Normally, it's we don't get hit, or we get to be dead. That's our only two options."

They went down into the train station and Lt. Richfield relay the orders, keep moving down the tunnel. Sargent Willis made sure they were ready to go and moved on down the tunnel.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch 16

With the delivery of 2000 terminators and 20 more TX's by Catherine Weaver, John decided it was time to do something with the western train station Genty's troops had found. Weaver had also done something smart with her terminators.

She painted them white.

One reason was for camouflage against the snow. The other was so their own troops would not mistake them for Sky Net units. John saw both were very good reasons for the powder coat over them. By train and by Stug, these new troops, along with 3000 more men arrived with a new rifle they were all carrying.

This new rifle was another work of Weaver genius. It was a plasma rifle, but under the barrel was a rocket launcher. The rockets were small, only one inch diameter, but the head contained a warhead that once the rocket was fired, would ignite the plasma charge upon contact with the target, countering the weakening of a plasma bolt that had to fly through the frigid air. As long as John's troops maintained a distance from Sky Net troops, their weapons would be more powerful.

Gentry's B Commander, Captain Rodriguez, was to take the rest of his B group to the surface after the way was cleared by miners and TX's. Cameron had marked where the Sky Net picket line was, and where the entrance above the eastern train station should be.

Until John knew where the major Sky Net forces were, he had Derek hold in place, but be ready to move. Although it was an unpopular decision, John went to the front. Cameron went with him and brought along two more TX's to ensure his safety. Cameron also had a directional radio set up in the station at Cheyenne city, as one would be put up at the east train station so John could stay in contact with all his troops.

.

The first Stug down the tracks towed a flatbed with ramps on top of it. Arriving at the station, a TX unhooked the flat car and lowered the ramps, and locked the wheels in place. The Stug drove just to the east tunnel entrance and shown it's lights down the tunnel.

The second Stug in Bore a ten men riding on top and bundles of equipment. As the people watched, it climbed up onto the flatbed then turned towards the stairs up. The men got down off the Stug and measured the stairs. One waved a hand. The Stug climbed the stirs into the lower mine. It was a tight fit, but it did go up, only scraping the sides. The men followed.

The soldiers in the station became traffic cops. They guided three more Stugs to the stairs, each carrying more equipment.

The fourth Stug came up onto the platform and stopped. This one only had three women on top of it. Police Sargent Betty Hewitt eyed the women. Two ere perfectly shaped Latinos with beautiful medium tones skin and faces that would put models to shame. The third was a Caucasian woman with auburn hair and again, a face straight fro heaven, if she wasn't casting everyone a blank stare. She was the one to rap on the hatch and say, "John, it is safe to come out."

The hatch opened and all the soldiers snapped to a salute as one yelled, "Attention!"

"At ease, carry on," John called as he got up and out. He got down. The women got down as well, bracketing him. "All secure?" John asked the Lt. who ran over to meet him.

"Yes, Sir, General! The first and second levels have been verified free of hostiles, we were about to investigate the first level, when you showed up."

"Cancel that, let's get some of our terminators up there first," John told him.

"Yes, General," the Lt. said with a salute, then hurried off to change his orders.

The Stug that carried John in rolled on up the ramp, a stream of them followed.

John saw the police woman watching him. He went over to her with his entourage. He held out his hand and said, "Hello, I'm General John Connor, this is General Cameron Connor, and this is Maria and Marisa, our escorts."

Marisa said, "General, I'm Marisa, Maria is on your other side."

"Sorry, my mistake." he offered.

Betty Hewitt shook his hand. "I'm officer Betty Hewitt, Sir, it is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your assistance." She was thinking 'pervert'. He dared have two drop dead beautiful girls as their escorts, especially with his wife right here? The nerve of some guys!

"You're welcome. Do you know of anyone else who may have survived?" John asked.

"No, Sir. May I ask how are the ones who went to Cheyenne city faring?"

"They are recovering," Cameron stated then pulled a bottle out of her jacket pocket and showed it to Betty. "This is anti-radiation medicine. The eyedropper is marked. Only one dropper per person, let me demonstrate. Open your mouth."

Betty did. Cameron pulled the eyedropper out and drew the white substance to the black line on the dropper. She then squirted it into Betty's mouth. "Swallow."

Betty did. With a grin she offered, "It doesn't taste bad … kinda like milk."

"Yes, " Cameron said and handed her the bottle. "Please administer one dropper per person for all of your people. One dropper only, and do not miss anyone."

"Yes, Ma'am. This will cure radiation sickness?" Betty asked.

"As well as keep you from getting it as long as you are careful with your exposure," Cameron explained.

Betty smiled and exclaimed, "This is … a miracle!"

"Negative, they are nanites," Cameron told her.

"Whatever those are. I'll begin right now," Betty stated and called people over to her.

John and Cameron waited until all the Stugs got up the stairs then watched the white terminators follow them in and up the stairs . Seeing people's eyed go wide, he announced, "These terminators are fighting with us, they will harm no one down here!"

Like the line of Stugs, it took a while for all the terminators to pass. Right after they did, a man came down.

"General Connor, the only way up is a ladder in the elevator shaft. We're talking one at a time, we'll need ramps to get those Stug to the surface. That's going to mean tunneling our way up."

John nodded and replied, "Send one terminator up. If the way is clear, see if you can get that elevators working. If you can or not, either way, begin tunneling to make those ramps. Men and terminators can climb up the ladder."

"We'll get right on it, General," the man said, saluted and jogged back up the stairs.

After the mines and troops had gone through, the support teams came in on a pair of personnel carriers. The radio back to Cheyenne city was put up, a large easel with a map or the area was set up, as was a planning table. John and his entourage went up the stairs to see how much room these levels of mines had.

.

Derek was happy that Laura was spending some time at the hospital every day. He also noted she was staying fully dressed, even when she was 'watching' him at night. His lust factor receded enough that he didn't constantly feel like banging his head against the wall.

They were getting more troops and weapons, Gentry's troops were keeping an eye on the Sky Net picket and searching the underground railroad, Jacobson had built a few fake snow forts facing the Sky Net picket, and supplies were no longer a problem now that they had plenty of gardens and factories. Even Laura was behaving. They even had stealth drones to keep a watch on Sky Net.

The drones were small battery powered planes that took video of an area. Small and quiet, they also were invisible to radar. Derek sent these out close to and over the Sky Net picket instead of risking a Stug. With these, Derek found Sky Net was busy building defenses.

Behind the picket line, terminators were hard at work clearing roadways for travel. With the depth of the snow, they looked like WW1 trenches. So far, he was finding a large group of terminators, around a thousand with a few H/K tanks, every fifteen miles, five miles behind the picket lines. The first video of terminators carrying large plates to pack down the snow in front of the pickets, he was confused at. Then he got it, they were making a clear field of vision to warn their sentries and give them a clear field of fire.

They were working hard to defend themselves. Derek was wondering why they didn't come searching for the resistance. A deep probe by a drone that crashed and had to be recovered, showed why. It had flown over a factory in Missouri, and on the way, there wasn't a single terminator he saw that wasn't at work. Even the ones being made were headed east. Not west towards them.

Sky Net was lacking machines, and trying to build itself up before it engaged the resistance. The Houston battle had damaged Sky Net more that they thought. Derek got all his information and had it sent to John.

"Lunch time, General," Laura said as she came into Derek's office with a tray of food and two mugs.

"Thank you Laura," Derek said. He was getting hungry. He sat down at a small table across from her and noted she had food also. "You're eating?" he asked, surprised.

Laura handed him a goat burger with all the trimmings, and picked up one for herself. "Yes, I have to maintain my nanite production, so I need nutrients," she said.

"Making the anti-radiation medicine," Derek said knowingly. "I do appreciate you doing that. You're saving thousands of lives."

They dug into their meal. Sitting this close to Laura, Derek couldn't help but notice that Laura's chest seemed … extra full. It was almost as if her boobs had gotten bigger and were squishing out to the sides and middle. "Do your clothes fit all right?" he asked.

Laura swallowed her mouthful and said, "They do. Why do you ask?"

"It just looks like you're … packed into that jacket," Derek said. He quickly added, "If it doesn't bother you, it's OK, I was only wondering if your comfortable with the size."

Laura cast him a grin and told him, "Thank you for worrying about me. My Jacket is fine. It would be more comfortable not wearing anything, but I must maintain a proper uniform." After a pause, she said, "Derek, would you mind if I wore less during your sleep cycle?"

"That's fine," he said before he thought.

Laura smiled. "Thanks, Getting out of this for a few hours would be nice," she said happily.

By the happy look on her face, Derek couldn't take back what he said. He just returned her smile and decided he'd face the wall when he went to bed. The sight of Laura even partially clothed drove him nuts.

A soldier knocked on the door frame as he entered the room. "General, Major Gentry reported there are several men coming from the Sky Net picket. They are six miles out. He followed their tracks back through the picket to the road the terminators cleared. At least two of the picket terminators saw them."

Derek ordered, "Tell Major Gentry to surround, disarm and detain them. Pat down search, and look for any transmitters. Keep them where he stops them."

"Yes, General," the soldier said and hurried away.

Derek quickly swallowed the rest of his food, as did Laura.

"I'm coming with you," Laura stated.

"Yes, you are, I want you to interrogate these men," Derek agreed.

.

Gentry had a good reception party waiting for the men who walked along on snow shoes. Before confronting them, he had a long distance watch set up in front of them.

Sitting still and now painted white, Stugs were virtually invisible to the human naked eye until one got very close. The Stug put in the men's path was watching them, the T-800 on the back with a .50 cal chain gun lay down so as not to be seen. Snipers to each side watched the men through their scopes. Behind the reception committee, two more Stugs and a personnel carrier waited.

The seven men were allowed to slogged along until they were thirty feet in front of the Stug. The Stug's bright combat lights flashed into being, the T-800 stood up and took aim.

"HALT! DO NOT MOVE!" the Stug commander yelled.

The men put their arms over their faces, being blinded by the light. "We're human!" one man yelled back.

"Hands on your heads fingers interlocked, NOW!"

"Yeah, OK! Can you turn that light off?" the man cried as he squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.

The personnel carrier came up beside them. Soldiers got out and one at a time, they checked the men for weapons, then cuffed them and got them inside the carrier. Inside the carrier their outer coats were opened for a pat down search, then they were sat in the back.

Emissions from the men were checked for. One had a homing device. It was removed and crushed.

The carrier moved away, then stopped. The reception Committee moved back towards the Sky Net picket and watched the men's tracks.

Three hours later, to ensure Sky Net wasn't going to bombard the area or attack, Derek and Laura showed up with a sizable guard. Derek went in the carrier and eyed the prisoners. "Where you from?" he asked, noting that for being outside on the surface, these men were the best looking survivors he'd ever seen. They were healthy, food was found in their pockets and all their snow shoes had been factory made. Even their clothes looked like they'd come off a rack someplace. "Where did you come from?" he asked again.

One man meekly said, "We started in Fayetteville, been scrounging and ducking Sky Net this whole time. We were just trying to find a safe place to be."

"Liar," Derek stated in a heavy tone. "You walked right between two terminators on your way here, we watched you and I know both of them saw you. You also had a homing device on you. I'll give you one more chance to tell me the truth, then you loose those coats and snow pants and my assistant will interrogate you outside. She'll keep you alive, but it will be very unpleasant."

The men's mouths dropped open.

"Speak!" Derek barked.

"Look, we just don't want to die!" another man cried. "OK, we were captured by Sky Net. They found our bunker and killed everyone else! This guy who's with them gave us supplies and told us to walk west. If we stopped walking, they'd kill us!"

Derek pointed to him and said, "Take him out to Laura. She's free to do whatever she feels is needed to get the truth out of him."

The man sobbed as he was jerked to his feet and his coat was cut off him. "I'm telling the truth!" he cried.

His snow pants were sliced down the sides and ripped off him. "Please, I told you, we were captured and it was walk or die!" the man all but screamed.

Derek watched the other men's faces as the man was pulled out of the carrier, wailing his innocence. The men's faces were drawn, their eyes focused on nothing. "Anyone else care to speak the truth?" Derek asked.

"Who are you?" a bearded man asked.

"I'm asking the questions. You give the answers," Derek stated.

Outside, the man led out wailed out a scream. The bearded man smirked. "You're this John Connor, aren't you?" he asked.

"None of your business, Mr. Gray," Derek said in a hard tone. "You're next out there unless you tell me why you left your cushy Sky Net provided home to walk here and be captured."

"How do you know that?" a third man asked in wonder.

"Shut up you fool You just killed us all!" the bearded man snapped.

"He did," Derek agreed. "But there are two ways to die. A quick, painless bullet to your brain, or slow torture.

Another wail and a "PLEASE, Nooo! … AHHH!" came from outside.

The door opened, Laura stuck her head in. A moaning sob was coming from beyond the door. "Who's next?" Laura asked.

Derek pointed to the Gray. "Him, and make him suffer. He's a gray working for Sky Net."

Laura came in and grabbed the gray by a foot to jerk him out of his seat and drag him to the door. She smiled at the remaining men and flashed her red eyes, then threw the gray outside and stepped out to shut the door.

"She…. She's a terminator?" a scared looking man said in a gasp.

"Damn right she is," Derek stated. "A much better one than anything Sky Net has."

He eyed the fearful looks of the other men and said, "This is your last chance. Tell the truth and I'll find you a nice, safe jail cell. Lie, and you go see Laura."

Suddenly, all the men were talkative and telling Derek about their capture, being watched and 'conditioned' by the gray, Charles Fisher, and every place they were and the Sky Net facilities and weapons they saw.

.

John was pleased Derek had captured some grays trying to infiltrate the resistance. Derek had even gotten helpful information from them. The location of a terminator factory in Missouri, another in Mississippi, and a new work camp in east Missouri. From what Derek had found, Sky Net had just begun taking humans to work instead of killing every one they saw.

The picture of Sky Net's forces and facilities was getting clearer with every bit of information gathered. John mentally work out his attack strategy as details of Sky Net trickled in. Cameron helped refine his plans. By the time the ramps were dug out to get his army to the surface, John planned on dealing a blow to Sky Net that would severely cripple it west of the Mississippi. Possibly in the whole of North America.

.

Rolling along inspecting the tunnel, Fred reached down and tapped Sargent Willis on the shoulder. "Sargent, you awake?"

"Yup, what's up, Fred?"

"Voices ahead, someone sees our headlights. It sounds like they are falling back," Fred told him.

"How far?"

"By the acoustic properties of this tunnel, and the volume, my best guess is 80 yards," Fred informed him.

Willis thought for a moment, if they stopped, the ones ahead would know they were heard. If they didn't, they might run into a trap. He got on the radio. "Pete, once we round this corner, I'm going to stop and go ahead on foot."

"Got it. You taking Leo with you?"

"No, just Fred."

"Be careful."

To the driver, Willis said, "When we hit the straight, stop. If you hear shooting, turn on the combat lights."

"Do we shoot back?"

"If they shoot us, yes. Not until then." Willis told him.

Coming to the straight stretch, Willis had the driver stop. Up ahead it was dark, no lights.

"There is a block in the tunnel, six heat forms behind it, sixty two point one yard ahead." Fred stated.

Willis got out, grabbing a flashlight and the flare gun. "Driver, kill the lights. I'll be in radio contact."

The Stug headlights went out. Willis walked on with his flashlight, Fred beside him. He kept his light low, searching the railroad tracks for any traps or mines. They walked fifty yards when a voice called out.

"Halt! That's far enough!" the deep voice called.

Willis stopped and said, "I'm Sargent Bob Willis, Fifth Cavalry under Major Gentry. Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Ross, Tenth armored brigade, Captain Galliano currently in command. How did you get down here, Sargent?"

"We've been following the racks from Cheyenne city, Sir. We found some survivors back a ways at a station. We send them back to Cheyenne. We're searching for survivors and a way back to the surface."

"You are cleared to approach, Sargent,"

"Thank you, Sir," Willis said and walked up to the barrier.

Lights now came on. The Lt. Stuck his hand out over the makeshift barrier. "Happy to see you, Sargent," he said with a smile.

Willis returned his smile and shook his hand, 'I'm delighted as well, Sir. I was afraid it was terminators up here. This is one bad place to fight in. No maneuvering room."

"Agreed. We heard what sounded like a tank. How did you get a tank down here?" the LT. asked.

Willis went into a long explanation from the time he was running from Sky Net to save his remaining troops, to getting down in the tunnel to search east, as another group headed west.

.

Later, Willis and his team were in another large train station that had the side racks filled with five engines and a variety of cars. His two Stugs sat on the tracks with their flat cars. His men were out talking with the platoon that was guarding the tracks.

Captain Galliano grinned at the Stugs, and said, "These can destroy those big tanks?"

"Sure can, Sir, "Willis beamed. "The H/K tanks Sky Net has are slow and their gun depression sucks. We position troops and the few M1's we have to get the H/K's attention, and hide off to the side. They charge, we run in behind them, close up, and shoot them in the ass. Once Sky Net units get a lock on what they are fighting, they don't watch behind them. Terminators, those skeletal things, we either shoot, of just run over. The ceramic coating absorbs their plasma shots. Our Stug's armor isn't thick, but Sky Net has very few powder guns now. They are almost all energy weapons."

"That is impressive," Captain Galliano said. "Is your Major available?"

"No Sir, he's out on the surface someplace, scouting out Sky Net positions. Right now, our Captain is answering directly to General Reese, back at Cheyenne"

"A General? So, you have an army, not just remnants?"

"An army of remnants, sir. General Connor, the leader of the resistance, is gathering up all the people he can find to fight back against Sky Net," Willis explained. "Not sure how many men we have now, but it is an army, and Connor has led us to some great victories. We've been blowing the hell out of those Sky Net machines every time we took the field. He started back in California, and had been pushing east."

Galliano clenched a fist and stated, "We are finally fighting back and winning! I knew those things would not beat us!"

"It has been a long fight. Sir, I have to report back on what we found. I you like, Sir, I can have my Stug reinforce the other tunnel with your men."

"Yes, do that. If you can raise your superiors, I want to talk to them."

"Right away, sir."

.

Willis got the radio operator at the 'station' they were now calling 'Mid Point' station, for lack of any other name. He called Captain Galliano over to Pete's Stug and handed him the head set. "It's Mid Point Station, Sir."

"This is Captain Galliano, Tenth armored brigade, in Jacksonville Missouri."

"Hello Captain," a female voice said. "This is General Cameron Connor, do you have access to the surface?"

"We do, Ma'am, but it has been closed for months, our manpower is very low and we have no tanks or artillery left. We have been working on survival."

"As you should be, Captain. General John Connor will be sending you reinforcements. Do not open your outer doors until reinforcements arrive. Will our Stugs make it up the path to the surface there?"

"They should, Ma'am. They are small and from what Sargent Willis tells me, very maneuverable."

"Yes, they are. I am going to put the supply officer on. Please inform him of any supplies you need. I am also sending Marisa to administer anti-radiation treatments. Ensure all your men receive this treatment. It is vital they receive it."

"Yes, Ma'am. I will see to it."

.

When Cameron told John where their tunnel scouts were and they had access to the surface, John laughed and hugged her. "This is the break we need!" he said happily. "This exit point is only thirty miles from the work camp and the Sky Net factory. It's a also another large underground bunker. We can strike Sky Net hard in multiple places at once."

John went over to the map and looked at the current status of the army and where units were positioned. He studied where and with what assets each of his unit had, and where Sky Net was, and it's known units. With Cameron being good at exact figures, they worked out where to hit and with what. Just to re- organize his army for this attack was going to be a monumental effort. The payoff though, was well worth it.

.

In his reorganization plans, John made some promotions.

Jesse Flores was promoted to Colonel, and given the Washington State, Oregon and Idaho areas to guard against sky Net. Colonel Perry under General Bedell was made a Lt. General and given California and the southern border to protect, Flores was also under him.

General Bedell was moved from the west coast to the south in the Texas/Arizona border to receive the incoming recruits and terminators, and train them for combat. Besides the men and terminators, he also got 50 more Stugs and 25 of the new long range 160 MM artillery guns.

General Reese was now the Command General for the eastern front, Major Jacobson was promoted to Colonel, as was Gentry. Gentry was also to command the expanded Fifth Cavalry under the newly promoted Captain Willis. His other forces were an artillery brigade of 155 MM guns under the newly promoted Major Smith, who also had some Stugs and carrier mounted antiaircraft rockets to protect his guns, and the two brigades of white T-800's, each under a TX.

Besides Major Jacobson, Derek had a new Major Bennet (Ex Fifth Cavalry) to command the Fourth Cavalry of scout Stugs. A few of Captain Gallano's tank drivers and gunners were drawn from him to give the new Fourth some experienced men.

The TX's Leo and Fred were promoted to Captain to each lead 1000 of the new white terminators directly, Under Colonel Gentry's command.

Cameron was given the responsibility of communications and intelligence collection as it was gathered.

.

In a large meeting with all these officers John stood in front of the battle map he and Cameron had made and explained the plan.

"First off, everyone, congratulations on your promotions, you deserved it. If you look here, we have the Sky Net positions we know of marked. Their units are spread out, trying to find us. Well they will, but may not be happy about it when they do. I'll start in the south."

"General Bedell, make your initial starting point here at the Arizona, Texas border. Down on the Rio Grande someplace, is a small force of navy TX's are making. Find them. Train your troops as well as you can until the word is given to attack. Your primary targets are Houston and Dallas. Set lines ahead of your artillery, the 160's have a 100 mile range. Once they are within range, begin pounding Houston and Dallas. Keep watch to the south, Corpus Christi may have Sky Net units, it may not. Assume they are there until you can prove otherwise."

John then addressed Derek. "General Reese, your responsibility is large. Sky Net's picket line. Cover as much of it as you safely can, Open up a five mile wide area, taking out all the picket units, then consolidate and meet the attack that is sure to come. For a while you will be defending the line with just your own troops. Keep in mind where the Sky Net units are congregated behind their picket. Your job is to draw them out and pull them west. We want to move them out of Missouri. Make them chase you. Defend, hit them, then move back a mile or two. Be careful and don't get surrounded."

"Colonel Gentry, your part in this is vital. There is a work camp here, where Sky Net is holding humans as slave workers. Send in your terminators to attack it from within if at all possible and get as many humans and disabled terminators out of there that you can. Up here, is the factory the work camp supplies with parts. Destroy it, then move west and south to get behind the line where General Reese is attacking. Hit the work camp first, then the factory, then when you're ready to assist General Reese, radio him to let him know. Whatever Sky Net forces are there, hit them from the front and back together, and watch your flanks."

John then said, "Timing again, will be vital. General Reese goes first, hitting the Sky Net line and dropping artillery shells into the Sky Net units behind the lines. Bedell will begin pounding Huston, and any other concentration of Sky Net forces he can find. Once we get a Sky Net response and they attack, Colonel Gentry goes to work. Sky Net is sure to have wised up some from our last battles. Keep a close watch out and look at their tactics. Adjust your fire and positions as you see fit. Reese and Bedell's job is to lure Sky Net into fighting, not hold ground. If Sky Net gains ground, we'll deal with that later. Supplies will be carried by the personnel carriers and sleds. Any questions?"

"When do we start?" Derek asked.

"Just as soon as everyone is ready to go. Right now, I'd say we have two more days for everyone to be in position," John told him. "Cameron has copies of the attack plans, she will pass them out to everyone. Do. NOT. Let these plans fall into Sky Net's hands. Dismissed."

.

The Fayetteville mining was going well, they had gotten to the first level and found the trapped terminator. Another terminator pulled his chip and dragged him out from under the rock, leaving his legs behind. At Jacksonville, Gentry's army was inside, waiting to move. Derek already had his initial targets marked and a bead on the picket terminators.

Bedell got his troops into position in Texas, and Corpus Christi was being scouted out for a Sky Net presence. Seeing all was ready, John sent messengers to set the start time, and synchronize with a time standard. The word that would be broadcast to start was 'Blitzkrieg'.

.

When the locator beacon stopped transmitting. Sky Net Segment west - that used to be South, but now had command over the entire western front - knew where some human were, only eight miles from it's picket. It reasoned out not to attack, for hearing and seeing nothing of a large human force, it concluded it was a small pack of humans not worth going after and exposing where it's forces were. This time, it wanted to know where the humans were before it lost over half it's units.

On the quiet radio channel the humans used, it heard a single word. "Blitzkrieg".

Artillery shells began to fall on two of it's collection of units in the middle of the line. In front of those units, communications were lost on a five mile stretch of the picket line. Minutes later Dallas and Houston were both receiving artillery fire.

Using history, Sky Net knew what a blitzkrieg attack was. Two forces punch through a line to meet behind the lines then attack the enclosed forces to wipe them out. It had not known what a 'Panzer Vor' was, so it didn't recognize the maneuver right away. It had the words filed in memory, and would watch for further deception. It knew what Blitzkrieg was, and ordered it's units to counter. Moving the bombed on concentrations on the northern pincer, it would intercept the move to stop that pincer. In the south, it had it's units move from the city areas and meet the southern pincer.

The northern forces met the humans just past the picket line, and drove them back. It was farther out in the south, but again, the humans fought then retreated. It had read what the humans were going to do and were driving the humans back. Loosing units to human weapons didn't matter, it was going to drive them together and crush them.

Sky Net west then got an unexpected message, the northern factory in Missouri was under heavy attack and reported it needed significant reinforcements to hold the attackers at bay. The work camp near there got off a partial message, of being assaulted, then the transmission stopped. The assault units in that area had gone out after the human's frontal attack, and were engaged.

How had the humans gotten behind the picket? Despite the northern human army was being pushed back, it had to save the factory. Every unit not in sight of a humans was ordered to the factory to repel the humans. It's units were spread out and responded slowly.

The blitzkrieg was a fake signal. Again the humans had struck and pulled back to draw it's forces away from the real targets. Sky Net Segment west determined that unless it could reduce the humans' numbers, they would continue to pull these maneuvers. It changed it's orders to the units to keep the attacking the human forces, and used only picket and other reserves to make it to the factory under siege.

It then got a message from that factory, "Defenses breached, factory no longer suitable.." and the message ended.

.

Derek kept close track of the battle. Sky Net units came at him from the left and right. He kept artillery on them until the Stugs got up the middle, then ordered the artillery back two miles and set up again. The Stugs attacked the right hand Sky Net units, destroying H/K tanks at will. Anti aircraft missiles were taking out H/K's before they could do much, if any damage. Shifting his positions to the south, Derek concentrated on the right side attackers first. When they were mostly gone, except for maybe a hundred terminators, he pulled back again and shifted north to meet the left hand forces head on.

Pull back, bombard them with artillery, then send the stugs in while the artillery retreated, Derek kept Sky Net off his front line troops, and dragged them further west, fifteen miles back now from their starting point. He was loosing some units and men, but the farther Sky Net came on, their army was getting significantly smaller.

"General Reese, this is Colonel Gentry, where do you need us?" his radio announced.

"Gentry, This is Reese, Map coordinates Tango, Foxtrot, fifty, three. Follow the tracks, we're at the end, Sky net will be between us."

Gentry send 40 stugs , each with a pair of white terminators riding on the back, racing off to get behind the Sky Net forces attacking Reese. The slower artillery, survivors from the work camp, and disabled terminators, he sent back to Jacksonville. Setting explosive thermite and phosphorus charges at the factory and in the work camp, He retreated the rest of his men and vehicles.

The Stugs Gentry send doomed the remaining Sky Net forces attacking General Reese. Surrounded, the comms H/K tank reported their position and 'enemy on all sides' before an artillery shell landed and took it out. Being terminators, they fought to the very last one.

Now Derek had a big cleanup operation to perform.

.

Sky Net was forced to reconsider it's tactics. The northern attack force had been obliterated. Fearing the same would happen to the southern force, it recalled them. Of course they lost units to the fast little H/K's the humans had, but many did survive the retreat.

Communicating with the eastern Segment, Sky Net concluded that to attack the humans over ground was not an effective tactic. Attempting to send humans to go find John Connor and kill him had not been effective either. They needed a solid deterrent to keep the humans at bay until a solution could be found, and it had many more units to put into the battle.

Sky Net had no other significant resources west of the Mississippi river to guard. A wide river would keep the humans from slipping past a picket line, unseen. It was time to fall back and set up an impenetrable barrier until other Segments could be contacted and it's forces became much larger. Sky Net knew this fight was with it's arch enemy, John Connor. A human who seemed to read Sky Net's intentions and find ways to defeat it.

The true war was just beginning.

.

Now that John had stopped the Sky Net attempted attack and destroyed the factory west of the Mississippi, Catherine Weaver took her forces of terminators. TX's and Stugs through the southern hole in the Sky Net defenses and set up ambushes for any reinforcements Sky Net sent.

The surprise she got was not reinforcements, but lines of retreating Sky Net units. She blew a bridge they needed to cross and attacked from both sides. The Sky Net units were taken unawares, and lost 400 terminators and ten H/K tanks before they even fired back.

Concentrating on the units that were trying to get to the bridge that was no long there, her terminators and TX's, along with some Stugs to run in for 'fast strike' attacks against the rear, her units chewed up the Sky Net units.

The rocket rounds from the plasma rifles did devastating damage, as did the dual arm plasma rifles from the TX's. While her terminators used cover and 'pop up' tactics, the Sky Net terminators walked straight into the withering fire and were put down in droves.

The last southern defenses Sky Net had were obliterated.

.

Sky Net West had made it across the Mississippi to set up it's defenses with only a quarter of it's units left. This human attack had been devastating. East Sky Net sent the few units it was able to, and pressed it's remaining factories for more production. It was also still fighting humans in and around New York, Atlanta and Pittsburg, and spattering of Humans all over the east coast. In the high mountainous areas, humans were like fleas, it could not seem to kill them all. It tried again to contact the eastern European Segment. Again, there was no answer.

.

Corpus Christi was a gold mine for the resistance. General Bedell found that while it had been bombed, it had been only one, and the TX's with their fleet of small ships and one submarine were found and came up to port at the city. The air group at Corpus Christi had no planes flyable, but many had survived, as did some of the airmen there.

The big prize in Corpus Christi were a WW2 submarine, a destroyer, both on land and blown over by the bomb, and the aircraft carrier, USS Lexington. None of these ships were battle-ready, they were museum pieces. When John learned about these ships, he ordered them restored if at all possible and with modern weaponry.

Catherine Weaver was already working on restoring several ships, including two aircraft carriers. She also had five ships out now, patrolling the coast. The resistance had a navy. It was made of bits and pieces, but so had the army when John started out.

One of Catherine's ships had gone out far enough to pick up Sky Net satellite comms. It received a report from India. The transmitters and receivers were working again, and it down loaded it's data to Sky Net. Coming back into port, John Henry deciphered the report. One of the reports of Sky Net -India segment was the sinking of a submarine that had caused the communications blackout. He sent this report straight to John Connor.

.

John went to visit his mother, Marisa going with him, as Cameron went to find Claire, Maria accompanying her. She found her parents at home. Knocking on the door, Cameron saw Claire open up.

"Cameron!" Claire cried happily and hugged her. "Come on in, what have you been doing all this time?" Claire asked dragging Cameron inside.

Cameron cast her a brief smile, Seeing Maria followed her in, Cameron told her, "Maria, wait outside please, and shut the door."

Seeing the look on Cameron's face, Claire sat her down at the table, clasped her hands and asked, "What happened?"

Cameron looked down. "I did my best to ensure … she was safe," she said in a wavering tone. "Cindy was the medic on the Alaska, no where near any Sky Net forces…"

"Oh god," Claire whispered as she stared at Cameron.

A tear dripped down Cameron's face. She offered, "I'm so sorry, Mom, the Alaska went down in the south Indian ocean. We just found out. There were no survivors."

Claire was upset, and saw Cameron was also, She moved over and pulled Cameron into a hug. Claire cried, that got Cameron to cry as well.

"I'm so sorry," Cameron said in a choke.

"Me too, hon," Claire replied and petted Cameron's hair. "Cindy felt she had to do her part. Was she happy?"

"I know she had friends, and felt she was making a difference," Cameron told her. "The last time I saw her, she told me she was doing what she had to do, and asked me to accept it. I should have brought her home!"

"No, dear," Claire told her. "You did what was right, you respected her wishes. You didn't know that sub was going to sink. Just like Cindy, you do your best. What you have to do. Be sad she's gone, but do not blame yourself."

Weakly, Cameron said, "John tells me that too … but is doesn't help. I failed Cindy and you."

Speaking firmer, Claire said, "That is wrong. No one failed Cindy. Cameron this is war, people, many people died and are going to die. You can't stop that. You have never failed me either. You have not failed anyone."

From outside, they herd Daniel yell, "What do you mean I can't go in? This is MY friggin house!"

Cameron let out a snort and said, "I better go save Dad."


	17. Chapter 17

CH 17

People in the resistance were happy. Even the soldiers who lay in a hospital bed bore their wounds and missing limbs with a sense of satisfaction. They had been nuked and devastated by Sky Net, but they were winning. John Connor was gathering them together, saving them from dying of radiation poisoning, and they were winning. Every single battle they fought, they were winning.

John Connor wasn't so happy. Yes, they had won battles and drove Sky Net units out of half the country, but Sky Net was still out there. He knew that until they got rid of Sky Net, they truly had won nothing at all.

John called a meeting with Catherine Weaver and John Henry in the caverns. The Way Point station now had a town hall built from interlocking blocks of stone. Cut with a water jet, each stone block was shaped with groves on the bottom and a matching ridges on top. Corner stones had a different 'cleat' design so they would lock together. Kind of like big a lego set. This made it possible to be a little fancier in construction that a square block building. The entry was an arch, that led to a foyer where a woman greeted visitors and workers to direct them to the proper place. John and Cameron came in with their escorts and went up to the desk.

The woman at the desk smiled and said, "John and Cameron Connor! It is a pleasure to see you! You conference is in room 2d. Up those stairs, second door on your left. Mrs. Weaver and her party arrived only moments ago. There is a snack and drink room the next door down if you wish to use it."

"Thank you," John told her.

Going up and into the room, He found Catherine, John Henry and Savannah waiting, Savannah was munching on a snack. Seeing them come in she got up with a smile. "John, Cameron!" Savannah cried and ran over to hug them.

Savannah was much taller since the last time John had seen her. Had it been that long?

"How are you." Cameron asked Savannah.

"I'm doing good in school and I got to come with Mom and John Henry. The caverns here are really awesome!" Savannah beamed. She then grabbed John's hand and said, "After the meeting, can I talk to you?"

"Ah sure," John replied automatically. "Hello Mrs. Weaver, John Henry."

"Hello John and Cameron Connor, Marisa and Maria," John Henry said.

"Hello John Henry," the girls chorused.

"John Connor, you have a plan to find Sky Net?" Catherine asked.

"A theory, really," John told her. "I know we intercept Sky Net radio signals, we can even triangulate and now where they are coming from. I was thinking about a way to trace them back to the source," he told her.

To John Henry, Cameron said, "Each radio tower is a repeater. It receives the weak signal, the transmits the very same signal, stronger. I have noted a slight delay of .5 seconds between the weaker incoming signal and the transmitted stronger signal."

"We were thinking, if we could follow the signals back to the source, we can find Sky Net's location," John told them.

John Henry grew his creepy smile. "Yes, John Connor, that is a very good idea. To do so, we would need a network of listening posts near each transmitter."

"They would have to be in Sky Net territory," Catherine added. "If we find Sky Net in this manner, the any attack would be seen coming, and Sky Net would merely download someplace else."

"If it can transmit, correct?" John asked.

"Yes," Catherine agreed.

"So we isolate it," John explained. We find where Sky Net is, then destroy every radio tower it can transmit to. That isolates Sky Net, and Sky Net can't call for help when we do attack it."

"I see," Catherine said with a smile. "You will need terminators to do this job, for any humans caught would be killed. Just how will you get them into Sky Net territory? Sky Net has backed up across the Mississippi river. It if frozen, but it is also wide and flat. There is no sneaking across it."

"We have boats and one functional submarine that TX's made, and another that is being repaired. They drop off the listening parties along the gulf coast, past the Mississippi, who go search for the transmitters, then listen," John explained. "There will be no direct communication between them for security reasons. They listen for a given time, then more are dropped off to listen while the first set return and we decipher the data. Once we know where Sky Net is, the last set takes out the towers around it."

"That will work," John Henry said. "Unless we can attack swiftly though, Sky Net could rebuild a tower and still escape before we can get to it. Sky Net units also only report when ordered, or something is happening that Sky Net needs to know about."

"I'll give them something to report," John assured him.

"I would suggest planting T-800's do this job," Catherine said. "TX's would be more efficient, but they would also be noticeable. Just another T-800 in the area would cause no alarm."

"Question," John Henry said. "We could have had this conversation over the data link. Why meet in person?"

"I don't know if it is significant, but damaged cable was found in the data line," John told him. "It may have happened accidentally, or we may have a Sky Net spy that removed enough insulation to listen in. Something like this, I don't want anyone to know about except for the people involved."

"Caution is good," Catherine agreed. "I will begin modifying T-800's to maximize their directional sensors Where should I send them?"

"To General Bedell in Corpus Christi, Texas," John stated. "We're going down there next to let them know. As well as to see how their fleet is doing."

"Very well, I will begin the proper Modifications. John Henry, Savannah, come along," Catherine said as she moved towards the door.

"Mom, I want to talk to John for a moment," Savannah said quickly.

Catherine eye her then said "We will be in the foyer, don't be long."

Savannah looked at Cameron. "Will you wait down there too, please?" she asked.

"Don't be long, John," Cameron said and left with Maria.

John knew Marisa wasn't going to leave. "Savannah, it's OK to talk to me with Marisa here. She will say nothing."

Savannah nodded. Quietly, she said, "You always knew Cameron was a machine?"

"I found out a few days after we met. This other T-888 wanted to shoot me. Cameron stepped in front of me and took the bullets," John told her. "I take it this is about your mother?"

Savannah nodded. "Mom told me she is one," she said weakly. "She told me about how my real parents died, and she took Mom's place. I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure how I should feel about that. Mom is scary sometimes, the way she just looks at me blankly. I just …"

"You want to understand a little better?" John guessed.

"Yes, I mean, if anyone, you should know, right?" Savannah asked.

John nodded. "You know how people grow up right? You are born as a tiny baby, then as you get older, your get bigger. You learn more the whole time," he offered.

"Yeah," Savannah said, watching him.

"Well machine people never grow physically. John Henry is very young, younger that you but he's fully grown, right?"

Savannah nodded.

"When Catherine and Cameron came back in time to help us, they were very young also. They have been learning. As they do, they make mistakes now and then. They may know what they have to, or want to do, but go about it in … not the quite correct way," John explained. "There are times I've gotten irritated with Cameron. It wasn't her fault, she knew what she was trying to do, but went about it badly. Her intentions were good, but not well carried out. Understand?"

Savannah nodded. "You're saying Mom is still growing up?"

"She is, just as Marisa here is learning new things and learning how to handle them," John explained.

"General Connor is correct," Marisa said. "Maria and I volunteered to guard John and Cameron Connor so we can learn from them. At the moment, Cameron is the most experienced and advanced AI."

"More advanced than Mom?" Savannah asked.

"From our experience so far, that is correct. I can tell you your mother will never harm you intentionally, or let anything bad happen to you if she can prevent it." Marisa stated.

Savannah nodded, then frowned a bit and asked, "Why do you have three boobies?"

.

John and his entourage next went to see Derek who was at the Jacksonville base. Derek was building it up and keeping a close eye on Sky Net forces across the river. Although there hadn't been any fighting recently, Derek wasn't idle.

Derek's men had left some Sky Net transmitting towers stand, and found out they could use those to triangulate on the Sky Net towers across the river. John found out they could pick up transmitted signals that were repeated, but unless it was an up and down the line transmission, they didn't receive transmissions from farther east. Derek also re-tuned some towers so the resistance was able to extend their own radio traffic. Some towers far back from the river on their side, Derek was using to communicate all the way to Texas and back to Denver.

Derek had every tower they could detect and get the location on, targeted by artillery. A new anti-radio missile had been developed. Instead of radar, it worked by following a radio signal. Even if the signal stopped, if the missile was on course with a lock, it flew on the same course until it impacted. It also had a destination mode, where it would fly to a location, unless it received a signal. From the pattern of towers Derek had found so far, he had a few of these missile pointed at where towers should be farther east.

John took in this information and headed for Corpus Christi.

While the city itself was a wreck, John found the air station was fairly intact, and some planes were being worked on in the hanger. Three what looked like sleek torpedo boats were tied up an a new dock, as was a small submarine that had a doghouse sized sail.

John met General Bedell at the air station. Exiting the personnel carrier outside a hanger, John went over and shook his hand.

"Martin! How are you doing down here?" John asked. "I see you have some projects going."

Martin Bedell waved an arm at the tower, then the hanger. "We got the tower up, but no flyable planes yet. Two F-15's are nearly ready, and the ammo bunker survived. The AWACS plane is being worked on. So far, the only thing that is operational is the three boats over there and the sub the TX's built."

With a chuckle, Martin said, "The sub is only a little more advanced that the original Huntley, the confederate sub from the civil war. They could not find an engine, so two of them peddle it to go places. It does have torpedoes and sonar, so it can be called a war ship, and of course the TX's own plasma guns. We're working on the Lexington also."

"Lexington .. The aircraft carrier?" John asked.

"The very one!" Martin said. "It was a museum ship, but the hull is in good shape. Some parts of the hull needed a steel lamination, they were getting thin, but if we can get it in working order, we will have some punching power out on the water. Instead of a straight carrier, we were looking to put some big guns and missile launchers on it and make it a battle carrier. We have no escorts as of yet."

"The effort will be well worth it," John agreed. He then said, "Martin, I have a job for your tiny fleet. I need to get our terminators east to drop off along the coast of Mississippi and Alabama. They are going to perform a spying mission. Drop offs and pickups will be in the same place. This will be an extended mission, possibly months long. They will be searching for Sky Net, where it physically is now. Only the ones who need to know, will be allowed to know about it."

"When are these terminators coming?" Martin asked.

"As soon as Mrs. Weaver gets them finished," John explained. "They go, search, then return to be picked up with the data they collected. A TX will be here to sort through the data. He will need his own guarded place to work. As I said, for what he is doing, only those who need to know, will be allowed to. I found a comms cable with a rip in the insulation, but the carrier wire was untouched. There is a possibility Sky Net is spying on our communications."

"News by messenger only," Martin concluded.

"That's right. The factory complex George is the most central point in our area of control. I'll have a space there for incoming messengers," John told him. "This shouldn't impact your other projects greatly. It is vital we get intel on Sky Net."

"I'll go tell the TX crews and send a boat out to look for suitable landing spots," Martin said. "By the time those terminators get here, we can get them out and doing their thing."

"Stress to those crews secrecy is essential. If any of our terminators are caught, it's big trouble if Sky Net can extract information from them," John stressed.

"It would be. You can count on us, John."

"Thanks. Do you have a rough time on how long it's going to take to get the Lexington finished?"

Martin shrugged, "It would only be a guess, and a wild one at that. A long time, that's for sure."

"Well, keep at it," John said. "Got any other ships to work on?"

"A WW2 sub and a destroyer in Galveston. They are pretty beat up, but if we can repair the hulls, then we will have hulls, and the rest will be modernizing. Still, it's going to be a while, a year maybe, before the can be ready to move on their own." Martin said, then grinned and added, "And none of these ships the TX's will be able to pedal."

John relocated his command post to George base to keep up with the messenger traffic coming in from his secret project.

.

Scappa flow in Scotland was once the home of a good portion of the British battleship fleet. After World war 2, it became an important port for merchant ships. When Sky Net struck, it dropped a bomb in the waters of Scappa Flow to create a tsunami wave that wrecked most of the ships currently there as well as the docks and buildings that covered the shore line.

Chas McGregor was Captain of the ex HMS Onyx, a diesel electric submarine he'd bought as scrap, then restored into working condition. Fitted with modern controls, the Onyx was now able to be steered by a single man. The automatic depth keeper would hold then at the depth selected, though the Onyx had only made two dives the entire time Chas had it. Once to prove that the system worked and the other as a show off to some fellow businessmen who were on their luxury yacht to prove he had something more unique that them. The power distribution controls allowed the Conn captain to start the diesel engine, stop then and shift power from diesel to battery with the push of buttons and flipping a few switches.

Chas didn't care about the torpedo tubes, he had the inner doors wended shut The torpedo room was now a lounge, and crew's berthing was individual rooms, small yet private. His quarters took up where the sonar room and attack center used to be. He kept the exterior 'original' as to not upset people who saw it, but the inside was another matter, with a full kitchen with modern appliances.

The Onyx was on it's way into Scappa Flow when the bomb hit, blasting water high into the sky and sending a 100 foot wave in all directions. The bridge captain immediately got down inside and shut the hatch. Coming in between two islands, the Onyx was thrown back by the wave, tipped and rolled hard, knocking Chas out of his bed.

After the wave passed, the ocean refilled Scappa low, pushing the Onyx to rush in between the islands. Secondary waves knocked the ship around, making it roll at one point onto it's side.

The tossing around finally settled, leaving the Onyx bobbing on the surface as the mushroom cloud rolled overhead. Chas had refurbished the periscope. The magnification was high, so he could cruise past nude beaches and zoom in on the best bodies to get a picture of. Raising the scope an angry Chas saw what had happened and got his ship out of there. He headed for the west coast of Scotland. Eyeing the devastated land, he moved across the Irish sea, and found the same thing there. It wasn't until he got to Iceland that there was a town untouched, and he desperately needed diesel fuel when he arrived.

Filling up his hungry fuel tanks, Chas discovered the world had gone crazy. A nuclear war had happened and all communications were out. He paid for his fuel to find his bank card no longer worked, nor did his cell phone. He quietly got his crew back on board, then told the harbor master he had money on the boat, and went to get it. Once on board, he tossed off the lines, and backed out into the harbor on electric power, turned, fired up the diesels and fled.

Low on food, Chas scoped out a quiet village in Newfoundland. Closing up to it, he found out why is was so quiet. Bodies lay everywhere. Some building were still burning, and the ships at anchor sunk, only showing masts and one showed the top of a wheelhouse. At dock a couple fishing boats were leaning over, trying to sink but their lines held them up.

Keeping a lookout, Chas and his crew pillaged for whatever they could find. They brought on food and a fuel truck that had escaped destruction provided some diesel to top off their fuel tanks. Once they had everything they could find, they left.

Down the east coast of the US, all Chas saw was destruction. He and his crew were getting sick, loosing hair, then teeth. By the time they passed the tip of Florida, three men had died, and everyone was weak. They decided to try Mexico. Chas himself died in his bed as they rounded the tip of Florida. When the last helmsman collapsed, and was too weak to get up, the Onyx kept right on the last course it was given to finish the turn around Florida, and sailed until it beached itself in Texas.

A Stug patrol found the submarine with it's engines still running, trying to push itself farther up onto the sandy beach.

.

Derek walked back to his room. Well, his room that Laura insisted she share with him. Going in, he heard the shower running. He had convinced Laura he would be safe inside the new base they had made in Missouri at Jacksonville. Laura was spending time at the hospital, which he thought was a good thing. He was able to hold his lust factor down.

Fearing she was going to come out naked, Derek sat down at his desk to look at the river map and the marked radio towers the had found. Along two hundred miles of river, he knew where their towers were. He also knew if he took those towers out, he could have Stugs to the other side before Sky Net reacted.

Derek had to wonder why John was waiting so damn long to do anything. They could bust Sky Net's line wide open and drive them back another 4 or 500 miles.

"Hi Derek!" Laura said lightly as she came out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Laura," Derek said automatically. He wanted to turn around, he didn't dare. "How was your day?" he asked, thinking of something to say.

"Good! I got enough nanites out to treat thirty people who had radiation sickness," she beamed.

That made Derek turn to look at her. Laura was wearing a light blue house robe. At least she was covered. "That many?" he asked. He noted that even wet, her dark hair looked great and somehow seemed to make her blue eyes even prettier.

"Yes, I am making full production now, though I do need to eat more myself," she explained.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Derek asked, "How do you do that?"

"Easy," she said as she came up beside him. She opened her robe and showed him. "All of my mammaries are fully functional now," she said happily.

Derek stared, he couldn't help it. Laura had three large breasts, the center one was 'tucked' in, making it look even larger. All her nipples were pruned up, like they were begging him to take a sip. "I … ahhh…" Derek said weakly, trying to form a coherent thought.

Derek's hands acted on their own, slipping into her open robe to pet her smooth, sexy sides. "Laura… I …"

"I don't think you've had any yet, have you?" Laura asked.

"I … ahhh…no," Derek said, struggling to find enough sense to at least answer her damn question.

"They get some now," Laura said and straddled his lap and cupped the back of his head to pull it into her chest.

Derek's mind folded. His common sense just flushed down the toilet. He didn't care about anything, except the women before him. An arm around her and the other fondling a left breast, he drank and he loved it. He stroked her back, he kissed her, he sampled all three delicious nipples and kissed and fondled. Somehow they drifted up and over to the bed kissing, arms around each other. Where did their clothes go? Who gave a shit. Laying down with Laura… ok, falling onto the bed with Laura, Derek made love to her. Time had no meaning as they paid attention to only each other. Soft cries asking for more and long deep kisses where the only things Derek could comprehend. He wanted the wonderful sensations to go on forever, as did Laura.

.

A party of men and TX's got on board the beached sub and shut down the engines. The dead were brought out and buried deep higher up on the beach. The boat was soaked with radiation, even the log book had to be decontaminated before TX Frank looked at it. The last entries were of this sub's scrapping, two years ago. The fuel was low, but enough to get it to Corpus Christi and into a berth.

It took another week to clean the ship up enough so humans could safely be on board. Even then Frank didn't want to take the risk. With a high tide, Stugs with poles pushing and all three boats pulling, they got the Onyx floating again.

Driven to a dock at the air base, Martin Bedell looked at their acquisition. "Frank, you said everyone on board was dead. This sub drove itself here?"

"It did, General," the TX confirmed. "The controls are modern. The inside had been greatly modified, making it a pleasure cruiser rather than a war ship. The torpedo tubes are welded shut and there is no sonar station, though the big bubble on the bow is an array of sonar sensors. Everything as far as navigation and depth control works. It appears anything military has been taken out or made useless. The snorkel system is whole, though it appears not to have been used."

"It will carry people, so it will be useful," Bedell said. "Can you spot good landing points with this?"

"Yes, a view by periscope will be less chance of discovery than one of our boats. Our submarine is slow, I'm sure this is much faster."

"Great, Captain Frank, make you ship ready to go scouting."

"Yes, sir."

While Captain Frank worked on getting his new sub ready, General Bedell checked on his scout force. Most had reached the Mississippi. They were finding blown bridges and random terminators who either didn't retreat for some reason, or never got the order. His troops were spread out, which made him nervous, but every place west of the Mississippi he found very few humans still alive. Many corpses bore bullet holes in them, others had died of radiation poisoning.

Knowing at the moment, he didn't have much of an offensive force, Martin understood why John Connor was spying on Sky Net and not attacking.

.

George base had expanded. People came to work there alongside the terminators and on them to give the skeletal machines extra armor. The covering of white ceramic was thinner, but the same as the Stugs being produced were getting. A fourth factory was going up, as was a new underground bunker and tunnel system that was to join Denver, George, and the Las Vegas area together.

John also found out scouts from Gentry's B group had made it into Montana and had found underground connections to three missile silos and a large bunker there. The men were weak from lack of food and dehydrated, but they were alive. They also wanted to help fight. All 490 of them were eager to stop this Sky Net from wiping out humanity.

Gentry's B group heading east were beyond the Mississippi and found a split on the long tunnel. In a large chamber, the tracks went left and right, and another track joined each so a train could go from the left tunnel to the right hand one. They were currently stopped at this junction to await more Stug teams to join them and bring fresh supplies.

.

Derek swore he'd lost his mind. She was weird, having three breasts, she was a TX, a friggin terminator! And he couldn't want her more. A long sleep until past noon after making love through the early hours of the morning, Derek woke up alone and wondering where she'd gone. He then saw a note on his desk, half folded in a tent shape. 'Derek' was written on it.

Derek hoisted himself up and rubbed his face. With a groan he got up and went over to read the note.

 _Derek,_

 _I had to return to the hospital for my shift. I'm sorry I didn't wake you, but you looked so peaceful I could not disturb you. I left instructions not to disturb you unless it was very important._

 _We need to discuss last night and this morning. It was absolutely wonderful! I was made aware of your history and the fact you don't like machines. That makes last night even more amazing. You accepted me, which makes me feel special. I will return at two, unless we have an emergency at the hospital._

 _Laura._

Derek sat at his desk, elbow on the table, his forehead in his hand. "Ughh, what have I done?" he asked himself.

Even sleeping late, Derek found it was hard getting himself up and around. He was plagued with memories of Laura, the soft feel of her, how nice it felt merely holding her, the taste of her lips as they kissed and kissed…

Derek went into the bathroom, turned on the cold water faucet and plunge his head in. It helped until he was back out of the bathroom and getting dressed. One look at the bed and he clearly saw Laura lying there…

Damn, this was going to be one long day.

.

It was already two when Derek got to the command center. No action from Sky Net, just the normal picket terminators reporting in. there was a delivery of another 30 Stugs, 20 more T-800's and three 160 MM artillery pieces, with 100 rounds of ammo each from George, 3000 new recruits and 4 tons of food from the caverns, and 40 drones and 3 more crates of plasma/rocket rifles with two crates of rockets along with 20 more anti-radio missiles from LA. 46 wounded were released from the hospital and returned to duty. 140 who had been suffering from radiation sickness were deemed healthy, and became new recruits.

Derek talked to the quartermaster to find out who needed what from Colonel Jacobson and get the supplies distributed. The men from the hospital he had sent to Stug driver and gunnery school.

Retreating to his office, Derek found he really had nothing to report to John other than the reinforcements he'd received. He was more than ready to pound Sky Net, but until John gave the order, he was to wait and only monitor Sky Net's picket and target any concentration of Sky Net units he found. Two more had been spotted by drones, and were within range of the new 160 MM guns. When word came to move, Derek was going to cut through Sky Net like shit through a goose. He was sure the first day, he could make it 50 miles into Sky Net territory and clean away their picket for at least 150 miles.

A knock on his door frame came with a sweet sounding voice. "Derek, are you busy?" Laura asked.

"No, come on in… shut the door." he replied and tried to work out what he was going to tell her.

Laura came in and sat down across from him. "Last night was really wonderful," she offered.

"Yeah, it was fantastic," he agreed. "I just don't' know …" he started, then seeing her face he told the truth. "Aww, hell, I'm a little scared here. I know … too much for my own good."

"Like what?" Laura asked, watching him intently.

"Like … us. Laura you are fantastic in any way a woman can be measured. I can talk to you about damn near anything," he admitted. "I don't want you saddled by any … fate. I want you to live like you want."

Tipping her head slightly to the side, she asked, "Can you tell me about Nancy?"

Derek face planted. "You're going to get it out of me, aren't you?" he asked in a groan.

"Eventually," she said.

Derek scrubbed his head. "OK," he said with a sigh. "A few months or so before Sky Net went nuclear, I hear about a UFO that sounded like an H/K to me, so I went to the area to look and see if it was one. I found it all right, the damn thing landed on my truck when I was going down the road. The next thing I remember was on an air mattress in the woods and being treated for my injuries. This dark haired girl, who looked a lot like you, except with brown eyes instead of blue was tending to me. Now that I see you, she was almost identical to you, only a little taller. She was near frantic and apologized, her idiot boyfriend hadn't seen my truck and landed on it. She told me I couldn't move yet and she was trying to contact her mother, but she wasn't able to."

Letting out another sigh, he said, "She called me 'Dad', and was surprised I was there. I was surprised too. I wasn't even seeing anyone seriously, let alone have a wife and daughter. Nancy seemed normal enough. Anyway, while I took another long nap, she and Jasper, her boyfriend that destroyed my truck, got it more or less back in working order.

It was then I found out they had come back in time to help … the others with things they had to do."

Chuckling, he grinned and said "Nancy got me up and Jasper was tying to rub two sticks together to make a fire. Nancy wasn't pleased with him. She suggested using a dry stick behind him. When he turned to look, she …" Derek's face softened. "She formed a plasma canon with her arm and shot the fire pit, making a fire. That was the very last thing I expected to see. My only thought then was, I was being tricked. There was no way in hell I'd have a daughter who was a terminator. I just wanted to get out of there. Nancy led me to my battered truck, doing her best to explain … but I wasn't listening. I just wanted to leave. I can't say for sure, but she told me some about you, and how she wanted me to accept you and her. I drove home and drank … a lot."

Derek took on a semi-insane grin and said, "I knew she wasn't lying, even thought I wanted to believe she was. I knew John and Cameron were going to be married and have kids of their own. Hell, later on, I met one. Anyway, when they came home and found me with four bottles of whiskey I had left, I couldn't help but laugh my insane ass of at the look on Sarah's face when she found out about that!"

"You were shocked," Laura said.

"More than shocked. Laura, I was THE metal hater," he explained. "I thought John should get rid of Cameron, I didn't like her one damn bit. Now, to find out I was going to be married to one and we were going to have kids? That blew my mind. I could not conceive it ever happening. For days, I went from laughing hysterically at some great … cosmic joke played on me, to actually believing it and drinking heavily. I consoled myself with the notion it was never going to happen. Then I met you."

"Yes, that explains much," Laura said thoughtfully.

"Nancy gave me a picture of you. This one," he said and touched his pocket. "I don't know why I kept it, but I did." With a weak grin he admitted, "I'd even take it out and look at in once in a while." Gathering his wits, he added, "Laura, I don't want you to feel obligated to me for some future that may or may not happen. Do I like you? Hell yes. Last night, the farthest thing from my mind was that you were metal. All I saw was you. All I cared about was that you were with me. Am I making any sense at all?"

Laura pursed her lips in a grin. She reached out with a hand and took Derek's. Softly, she said, "Derek, I like you too, very much so. Believe me when I say I am not controlled by anything except what I want to do. I want to help those suffering from radiation , I want to do my part in getting rid of Sky Net, for everyone. I do want to stay with you. Not because of anything this Nancy said, but because I think you are a very good man. Even though you hated metal, you have been kind to me and except for the fears you hold from knowing what will be, you have been honest with me. I am your friend, Derek, you never need to hide anything from me."

Derek looked at their hands clasped and said, "I'm a little nervous here."

Laura smiled and said, "I am also. There is so much I want to share with you. To be with you, but I'm not sure if you want to be with me. It's a little scary."

"Yeah, it is," Derek agreed. "I don't want to disappoint you."

"Same here. I don't want to disappoint you."

They looked at each other for a while then rose up at the same time and kissed over the desk, then hugged.

"Derek, is this love?" Laura asked.

"Not sure, but it certainly feels like it," he said and kissed her neck.

"I don't know how we can have children. Maybe if we keep practicing?" Laura asked.

Derek chuckled and said, "I don't know either, but you could be right. They say practice makes perfect."

"Oh, good. I want to practice more."

"Me too."

.

John thought it was forever before the first messenger arrived with data from Sky Net. There wasn't much, just a 'flow' of radio traffic headed east. To increase the traffic, he had Derek take out one of Sky Net's pickets and a radio tower.

Not long after that, Gentry's eastern scouts found the salt mines under Detroit. John didn't even know Detroit had salt mines. From the report, they were gigantic. Even with the combat headlights, they couldn't see the other end. They were also deep down in the ground, but as of yet, no sign of anyone. It was also the end of that arm of railway tunnel, the tracks formed a loop inside the mines. He had Gentry explore those mines and find a way to the surface.

.

Sky Net west segment immediately had the area reinforced where a picket terminator stopped transmitting. It also discovered a single radio tower had been hit. The debris indicated a long range artillery had opened up on the spot. The tower was damaged, but not critically. Shrapnel had cut through the wave guide. It got verification no human had gotten through. Still concerned about an attack that might be setting up someplace else, it sent an H/K over the river to see what the humans were doing. The H/K was shot down and landed on the river ice.

Humans were close by, but waiting for something. Sky Net west ordered it's units to look for any signs of humans. While Sky Net was sending and receiving signals, lone terminators were near 50 different towers, gathering data on the signal coming and going.

.

Lying in bed with John, Cameron had heard the messenger coming. They just had a great intimate time together, and being exhausted, John had passed out. She didn't want to move, but got up so the messenger would not disturb him. She threw on a robe and slipped out their bedroom door into John's Office area. Marisa was already at the outer door and opened it as the messenger arrived.

The man had a folder of papers. He saluted and said, "Ma'am, I have the data on the sky Net towers from General Bedell."

"I'll take them. Wait outside, please," Cameron told him.

"Yes, Ma'am," he said and handed the thick folder over to her.

Cameron went over to the table and took the papers out to study each one. One was a map of the eastern US. On it was exact tower locations. The others were a list of towers and signals sent and repeated and the times each signal was sent and received. Scanning the information, Cameron was able to follow signals from tower to tower. She noted each signal was relayed only by one other tower within range. There was a component in the signal as to which follow on tower was to re transmit. Most likely to keep a signal from bouncing between two towers and filling the entire system with one signal being re- transmitted again and again.

This also help to follow where the signal originated, and replies were sent back to. Studying the data, Cameron found the signals began in the middle of Tennessee, And were not repeated upon returning. Sky Net was there.

So as not to waste paper, Cameron circled the center of the state on the map and wrote, "Concentrate search here" under it. She thought about waking up John, be decided she would tell him when he got up in the morning. She didn't like being disturbed after a long satisfying lovemaking session, she doubted he would like it either. He put the map back in the folder and called the messenger back in.

"Take this to General Bedell immediately," she told him.

"Yes, Ma'am, he said with a salute and left.

Cameron hadn't noticed Maria missing from the room until she went back into the bedroom. She found Maria, in bed with John.

"Maria, WHAT are you doing?" Cameron asked in a harsh tone.

Lying beside John, Maria said, "I know you enjoy lying with John very much. It does feel nice and warm …"

"Up!" Cameron snapped loudly, which woke up John, who also let out a yelp.

"Maria, what are you doing?" John cried as he shot up to sit.

Maria sat up. Looking at John, then Cameron, she said, "I wanted to experience what it was like to lie down in bed with someone," she explained.

John grumbled, "Maria, you only do this with someone you love … not random people."

"And NOT with MY mate!" Cameron said firmly. Her eyes flashed red.

"Marisa and I laid together, but we didn't notice any difference in comfort or temperature. I was curious if it would be different lying down with John as you do, Cameron, and yes, there was a difference," Maria explained.

"Maria," John said with a groan. Explaining, he said, "Being in bed together is only for people who are special to each other. Cameron is very special to me, and I am very special to her. It is our time to be together with no one else around."

"I understand," Maria said, then looked at Cameron. "You are special to me, may I lie with you?'

"What?" John asked, staring at Maria. At least she was still dressed, John noted.

"Yes, Cameron is the most advance AI, that makes her special. Marisa and I want to learn all we can from Cameron."

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "You laid down with John to try and find out why I do?"

"Yes."

Cameron understood. She still wasn't happy to find Maria in her bed. "John, A messenger came. General Bedell's scouts have found Sky Net in the middle of Tennessee. I sent back a message to focus on that area and get Sky Net's exact location."

"Good Job, hon. We're making progress," John told her. He then asked, "Maria, could you get up, please?"

"Maria, come out to the office with me, there are things I need to explain to you and Marisa," Cameron stated.

Maria got up, smiled and said, "Yes, please explain to us."

John flopped back down and rubbed his face. He sure was awake now, but there was no way he was going out to listen to this female conversation.


	18. Chapter 18

CH 18

John began planning his attack. This was going to be a hard one. Again, timing was everything. If Sky Net wasn't isolated, then Derek's troops would face Sky Net's full wrath. If he waited too long, then Sky Net would relocate and the entire operation would be for nothing. Derek had to move fast to get close enough to hit Sky Net with his 160 MM guns while holding his flanks. He thought of other options, like sending a ship up rivers to get closer. Ships were slower though and everywhere, and the rivers were frozen. Running Stugs up the rivers would be faster.

John met with Derek to explain the problem. Looking at a map, John told him, "We have narrowed down the location of Sky Net. Middle Tennessee, south of Nashville. The spies are searching to pinpoint it's location. This area is about 150 miles behind our lines. The best direct route is here in Arkansas and follow this highway. As always, timing is critical. The radio towers around sky Net are going to be taken out. If you jump too soon, Sky Net will know you're coming. If you move too late, or are held up, Sky Net might get away. As of yet, we have no other significant force to help you this time. Gentry had gotten to mines under Detroit, but he hasn't gotten up to the surface yet. That's also too far north to do you any good."

"A 'Hail Mary' attack in hopes of destroying Sky Net," Derek said.

"Not quite that. Yes, the risk of getting caught and cut off are great, but so is the reward if we can do it," John stated. "You'll have to take everything and push as hard as possible to make it."

Derek nodded and said, "You're not going, John. I can punch though the line and move fast with my forward units, but this is a big friggin risk. I have to get the artillery in range and set up while driving forward and leaving substantial resources on my flanks. Obviously, I can't do an artillery strike before hand, it would alert Sky Net. We're going to loose men and equipment on this one."

John thought for a moment, then said, "Use the 155's to pound each side of the corridor you're going to sent troops through, right after they are on their way over the river. Missile the hell out of the radio towers also. That should slow down their response."

"It should," Derek agreed. "I am going to do lots of scouting with drones, I'm going to need to know exactly where every Sky Net unit is along the line. How about Weaver sneaking some T-800's behind the lines to help with the confusion factor?"

"In progress," John told him. "We know where some of the radio towers are near Sky Net's location. Not all of them yet. When we move, it has to be all of them. I'd say you have two weeks to get ready to move. I'll send all the support that I can."

.

Sky Net west and Sky Net east studied how the humans were engaging. Every time the humans attacked, they had come forward strong, then faded back. It was noted that every time, humans were doing more damage to it's forces when they were fading back. Humans would stand long enough to destroy units, then retreat and fight again until they pulled it's forces far enough away, then converge and surround it's units to destroy them from all directions in the trap they made.

Working out a strategy to counter this tactic, Sky Net concluded that it needed to avoid racing in at the attackers. It would let the humans advance offering some resistance, but use it's stronger forces to get behind the humans so they could not retreat, and get caught in Sky Net's own trap. With the new T-800's Sky Net had 10,000 units on the line with 300 H/K's and 400 H/K tanks. It's four factories were also well guarded by T-800's and fixed wall plasma cannons. Knowing the humans also liked to draw all it's forces into the battle, Sky Net would retain reserves and watch for another attack. It also decided that the words humans used to start their attacks, were only random words to trick it. All those words meant were that an attack was going to be made. It would not be fooled by humans again.

.

John wanted to use a code word to begin the attacks. This time, the units and areas involved were too far apart. He had to rely on timing alone. The last T-800's to go on their scouting into Tennessee, carried backpacks of their plasma/rocket rifle and explosives. When they found Sky Net, they were to send a small party back to report, then return with the date and time they were to begin.

.

The Onyx was filled with terminators when it sneaked up the bay past Mobile Alabama. Heading as far north as possible, it got to it's drop off point and raised the periscope. Seeing nothing, it surfaced and gently slid up to the shoreline as close as possible. 90 T-800's came up, jumped overboard and walked to the shore. There they put on their snow shoes and continued on through the woods. The Onyx backed away and slipped back under the water and waited for the return group.

.

Walking outside in the George base, John noted the sky was getting lighter. The cloud cover even had openings here and there that reddish sky peeked through. Materials that had been flung high into the atmosphere and continued to circle the globe. Maybe they weren't going to have an ice age after all, like he'd been fearing.

Walking with him were his entourage and Catherine Weaver.

"You think Sky Net is Split?" he asked.

"I do," Catherine stated. "John Henry and I were analyzing the data our terminators collected. Signals were consistently being passed to and from the north east to the area we have determined Sky Net is at. It makes sense, John. Sky Net feels vulnerable, it's main goal is self preservation. If it split itself into segments. Even if one is taken out, the other still commands all it's units."

"Should we wait and take out the other segment as well?" Cameron asked.

"That would be the idea situation, however, Sky Net is building it's forces just as we are," Catherine explained. "The longer we wait, the more forces will be there to oppose us. We need to reduce Sky Net's facilities to stop production."

"We do," John agreed. " Gentry found a way to the surface in Detroit. Sky Net does have a factor there. Bedell also has gotten a pair of fighters repaired, and test flown them. While your terminators take out the radio towers, they can fly in for a strike at the Sky Net we know the location of. They may not destroy it, but if they can keep it from moving, it's worth risking the only two fighters we have."

"Agreed, John, we need to use every resource we have to eliminate this Sky Net," Catherine agreed. "In that reasoning, I would like to add my forces to those of General Reese. It will give him a better chance at success," Catherine told him.

John eyed her and asked, "What about the west coast? Just because we've heard nothing from Sky Net there, doesn't men we won't."

"I have ships and drone air craft covering the ocean 100 miles out. If Sky Net comes, we will have warning in time to re-deploy." Catherine told him.

"Even up to Alaska?" John asked.

"Southern and western Alaska, to be sure we have an open way to move over into Russia when the time comes," Catherine told him.

"Let's hope we get that far," John replied.

Cameron clasped his hand and said, "We will John, we all believe in you."

.

Finally, a messenger arrived with the location of Sky Net. In the folder was also the time it would take to contact all the terminators by messenger/ John called Derek and his officers, Catherine Weaver and Martin Bedell in for a conference.

Standing in front of the group, John said, "We have Sky Net's location. This is a vital operation, folks. To help with that, General Reese, Mrs. Weaver is going to supplement your troops with hers. Get together and coordinate with her. General Bedell, I have a mission for your fighters. Bomb the Sky Net facility at the appointed time. In this mission, there will be no word to commence, time to start only. To inform all units of when to begin will take five days from today. Six days from today and 0900, we begin."

"The terminators near the radio towers around Sky Net will destroy all the towers. As close to, but not before 0900, Bedell's F-15's will bomb Sky Net to help take out the facility. Go for power plants if you can, but do as much damage as possible. At 0905, General Reese begins his attack taking out radio towers as his forces advance. Derek, we need shells down on Sky Net ASAP once we start. The terminators who take out the towers will converge on the Sky Net location to attack the facility antennas and entrances Once we have confirmation that Sky Net there is destroyed, we modify our actions as the situation determines. Watch your radio chatter, vital info only to keep Sky Net units from knowing where you are. Questions?"

Colonel Jacobson asked, "General, what to you see as our plan of action once Sky Net is destroyed?"

"Ideally? Moving north and south to cut Sky Net comms, wipe out every radio tower possible," John said. "There is a possibility that another Sky Net segment is to the east, we want to cut it off from the units near our lines, which is the majority of Sky Net's strength. Then we can attack each area one by one to eliminate them. Colonel Gentry will move on the Detroit Sky Net factory once we are engaged."

.

Sky Net east was arranging the shifting of more units to critical locations with Sky Net west, when Sky Net west stopped communication. It immediately sent out an order to all it's units to report status.

.

The terminators had blown the towers and were marching towards Sky Net west. A couple ran into repair parties and destroyed the vehicle then the terminators when they came close. Overhead, a pair of F-15's shot by low, at such a high speed a snow blizzard followed them, as did several H/K's that were falling behind.

.

The information Sky Net east got was a lack of reports along the Mississippi. It moved units to each side of the quiet zone and monitored the areas going dark. Humans were attacking, it expected them to pull back soon, but quickly more towers went silent 40 miles into it's area. The path being taken by the humans was directly at Sky Net west's location. Deep behind the line, there were no concentrations of units to block the human advance. It tried to signal the bracketing units to close in. There was no response.

.

In his command carrier moving along with the artillery, Derek listened to the short range chatter. Jacobson's lead Stugs were plowing through many less Sky Net units that they expected to meet. Behind them, Catherine Weaver was holding back a determined counter attack by significant Sky Net force from the north and south. She was directing the 155's fire to help keep Sky Net units at bay. Picket Stugs raced across the river to make quick hit and run strikes on the flanking Sky Net units from behind, to keep some of the units off Weaver.

.

At Sky Net west, it had detected the incoming planes as they popped up to make their run.

Wall mounted guns aimed and fired. So did the planes. Plasma round passed the rockets in the air. Both planes blew up. The rockets landed in the facility, taking out the Communications building and seriously damaging Sky Net's own building. Emergency power came on. Sky Net ordered communications back up. It knew human were attacking, and by isolating it, they were coming to destroy it.

There was no factory here to make a body and download into it. Sky Net west was relieved to see many more terminators arriving to help defend it. Seeing them visually it noted these T-800's were white. No order had been given to do that to any factory. When the white terminators began shooting at the wall guns and inside the gates that had been open to accept them, Sky Net west understood.

Humans were making their own terminators! That explained why the humans had been so effective at finding it, at penetrating it's lines. It had to get this information out, but there was no way to do that now. The wall guns fire back, as did the few terminators inside the facility that were not working on restoring communication.

Then shells began to fall. some hit nothing, other that did hit blew holes in the walls, destroyed the power plant and the maintenance building. The white terminators stayed outside the walls, doing damage until the wall guns destroyed them. They were no longer the danger. A wall gun was hit, blowing it up and taking a chunk of wall out with it. Sky Net West looked for a place to retreat to. There wasn't one. A shell then hit the building it was in. It exploded and shattered the server room. Sky Net west ceased to exist. The wall guns fell silent.

.

Derek looked a the mess they were in. Weaver was hard pressed on both sides. He was 60 miles away, not knowing if all the shells they were shooting was doing any good, and his lead Stugs were another 50 miles ahead of him. H/K's were being shot down by Anti-aircraft missiles, and more came in at all of the sections of his army. Laura was outside, helping to provide air defense. They had used all their anti-radio tower missiles, and were shooting the last of their anti-aircraft missiles.

The radio announced, "This is Colonel Jacobson, Sky Net kill confirmed! I repeat, Sky Net kill confirmed!"

"Reese here, I read you Colonel, what is your status?" Derek replied.

"We're free of Sky Net in the area. No Sky Net signals. Orders, sir?"

"Shift south, locate and destroy radio towers. Upon finding active towers, hit them and turn west. Weaver needs help back at the river."

"Understood. On our way."

"West guard, this is General Reese. Get Weaver's status and inform her Jacobson is shifting to the south. Move south if she can."

"Roger, General."

Derek, then sent, "Artillery units, job's done, pack up and prepare to move south."

"General Reese, Message from General Connor and Mrs. Weaver. Weaver is moving south, picket line has crossed the river, General Bedell sending reinforcements. Sky Net units are holding their positions. Sweep south, take out every Sky Net unit and radio tower you can find."

"Understood, moving as ordered." Derek replied then opened the hatch to see Laura standing on the roof of the carrier, watching the sky. "Laura, we're moving out. Get in here!"

Laura got in. Her hair was a mess, both her arms were showing her canons. "The H/K's we didn't get moved away. I thin we may have won," she said.

"We got a Sky Net segment, so we did win this round," Derek agreed. "We also lost six artillery and a few carriers here. Weaver's getting pummeled. We're moving back to give her a hand."

.

John listened to the comms coming back as Maria and Marisa kept up the situation table, showing where their units were, and Sky Nets were they knew about were.

Cameron came closer and said, "We got it, John."

"We did," he agreed, "And so far, it looks like we're taking significant losses as well. Even though that Sky Net was taken out, Sky Net units are still active. That means Catherine is right, there's at least one more Sky Net segment out there." He then clenched a fist and barked out, "DAMN!"

.

Sky Net east, the last segment in North America, was surprised at the speed of the human's attack. The units it could contact, which were getting fewer by the minute, showed that this time, the humans didn't engage then fall back, they had kept driving right at Sky Net west, even when the attempt to close off their retreat had been activated. The last reports showed they had left forces at the picket line to counter this action. By the pattern of radio towers that had gone silent, Humans had somehow isolated Sky Net west, then drove in to destroy it and spread to the south as the force guarding their rear had done so. This told Sky Net that the humans were preparing to draw it's forces south to eliminate them. Sky Net didn't fall for the deception. Again, humans had dealt it a devastating blow. The only way they could have done that was to decypher it's communications. Humans had known exactly where Sky Net west was before they got to it.

Sky Net then lost comms with the northern factory. Humans had somehow found it.

Using a river as a strong point had worked until the humans attacked. It was puzzling how enough humans had survived to deal such devastating blows. Each Sky Net segment that was destroyed, had been in a fixed facility with defenses. It decided to make a mobile facility so it would not be isolated in one place and unable to give orders to it's units.

One clue did appear. A surviving H/K tank had been listening to some human communications. There was one name that made Sky Net shudder. The leader of the humans was John Connor, it's most hated enemy. It tried again to contact Sky Net Europe. Again no reply. It was on it's own against that devil Connor. It considered making it's mobile facility on the water where Connor could not get to it.

.

John's troops were on the move. The fighting started when Derek crossed the Mississippi was still going on four weeks later. In the south, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were firmly in the hands of the resistance, as was upper Mexico. In the North. Gentry had cleared most of Michigan, parts of Ohio and part way to Toronto in Canada. They met Sky Net units and disabled them and found a couple large pockets of humans in caves. Assistance was given to these people. Medical, food and weapons. Tracks in the snow showed many Sky Net units had fled. Scouting out Florida, Gentry's fleet found minimal Sky Net presence there. Also, the tip of Florida was snow-free, temperatures there in the lower 40's.

Scouting and spying showed Sky Net was still in the north east. John was sure it was gathering forces to make some impenetrable barrier against him. Sky Net was acting completely on the surface. John was using the sea to get behind barriers and tunnels to get under them. Gentry's tunnel scouts were now halfway to Washington DC, and found exits in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Both were unoccupied, but the stations there had supplies waiting for refugees. Barrels of sterilized, pure water also helped refuel the Stugs.

The one thing John had wanting for a while also came to be. The Onyx was headed across the Atlantic to search the African coast for Sky Net ships to hijack.

.

Cameron was happy John was making good progress. She wasn't happy about Maria and Marisa wanting to 'experience' cuddling with John. She had to remind herself they were new, and were only trying to experience new things. Neither tried to get in bed with John again, but they did watch her and John intently whenever they could.

Marisa also started asking John personal questions like how was it nice for him to lied down and hold Cameron. Being John, He did his best to try and tell her without being personal. Being a terminator, Marisa tried different angles to ask the same question. Maria joined in, trying to get John to admit more. Cameron wanted to punch them both out.

That was not an option, for besides being the wrong thing to do, they were both TX's. And being Terminators, they were set on being John and Cameron's guards. She couldn't even get them to go to a social event to look for their own man to 'experiment' with. They would not leave John and Cameron's side. At least they weren't busty blondes.

This last time, Marisa tried to catch John off guard again as he was working at his desk. Out of nowhere, Marisa asked, "John, it the lightness of Cameron's skin one of the reasons you are so attracted to her?"

John looked up at her. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

Marisa sat down across the desk from him. "Cameron's skin is very light in color, similar to yours. Is that one of the things that attracts you to her?"

John frowned at her and asked in return, "Do you really think I'm THAT shallow?"

"I don't know. What is 'shallow'?" Marisa asked.

John let out a huff and dry washed his face. He then said, "OK, I'll explain it. Being shallow means you only see what's on the outside. Skin color, hair color, maybe how someone's eyes look. Simply physical characteristics."

"I understand," Marisa said, then asked, "So if you liked Cameron for just having light skin, you would be shallow."

"Yes," John stated. "I see Cameron as much more than how she looks. Frankly, I don't care if she had pure black skin. Cameron is Cameron, the best friend I've ever had. That is what I see."

Marisa tilted her head slightly and asked, "So if she had black hair and darker skin like me, that would not matter to you, because you are not Shallow."

"Right. Look Marisa, long before this war, Cameron has saved my life several times. We have talked and discussed things, we spend a couple years together, helped each other. Cameron does what she can to keep me happy, and I do everything I can to help her understand her feelings and keep her from being emotionally hurt. That is why we're together, we do things for each other," John explained.

After a short pause, Marisa said, "I understand. You are together for more reasons than just having sex."

John nodded and said, "That's right. Yes sex is part of it, but what's more important is we care about each other."

"So if I wanted to be with you, We would have to do things for each other also," Marisa concluded.

"Ahhh, no," John said firmly. "If I had sex with you, that would hurt Cameron's feelings. I would never do that to her."

"If Cameron isn't even present, how would that hurt her?" Marisa asked innocently.

"Oh boy," John said with a huff. "Remember I just told you I look out for Cameron's emotions?"

"Yes."

"Cameron and I have decided to be together. I am for her, she is for me," John said, trying to make her understand. "If I have sex with you, or anyone else, then Cameron would feel bad, because I have promised myself to her. I would also feel bad because I let Cameron down." Becoming frustrated, he asked, "Didn't Mr. Ellison tell you about these things?"

"Mr. Ellison said on the matters of love, that you should be true to the ones you love, and be committed to them," Marisa explained.

"Exactly!" John agreed.

"Mr. Ellison never said anything about you can be committed to only one person, and Maria and I are committed to seeing to yours and Cameron's welfare," Marisa stated.

"Marisa," John said with a groan, "Being a guard is a completely different type of commitment."

Thankfully, Cameron came in and announced, "John, General Bedell found a Sky Net factory in Mississippi. He's counted 200 un programmed terminators there. His TX wants to make them free machines."

"Have him send them to John Henry, He's the expert and the school is in LA," John said.

"Yes, that is a wise choice," Cameron agreed, then noted Marisa watching her. "Did you want something. Marisa?"

"No, John answered my questions," Marisa said with a smile. "John let me know if I had sex with him, that would harm your feelings. Do you emotional damage."

Cameron glared at John. Her left hand began twitching. Seeing this, John quickly said, "Marisa is trying to learn. I was explaining to her that we are together, just you and me."

"You seem very interested on questions of that nature," Cameron said, shifting her glare to Marisa.

"Yes, I want to know about it. I am finding that was one of the things that I do not have much information on," Marisa agreed.

Cameron shifted her gaze between John and Marisa, then said, "Be sure you tell Maria so she doesn't ask the same questions."

Marisa got up and said, "Yes, information sharing." She went out to tell Maria.

"Irritating?" John asked.

"Very. They are learning, so it is acceptable … barely. I will go contact General Bedell."

"That you , hon," John told her. They shared a smile.

John found that while taking massive amounts of ground, they got one Sky Net, but there was still another out there. Sky Net was learning, also. It did not push an all out attack when it engaged. It also had tried to isolated Derek's forces when he had pushed through their lines. Gentry had not met much opposition at all. The factory he took gave him a hard fight, but that was it.

Looking at the map, he thought about the northeast US. That was were the other Sky Net was suppose to be, where the other transmissions came from. Making a straight line from where Sky Net was, along the direction of where the other signals were coming from, the only city the line went over was Albany, NY. Damn, that was still a long ways away. On the other hand Gentry had troops in Michigan, and a run through Canada over the Great lakes would be a much shorter trip for him. That far north, John was sure the lakes had to be freezing over. If they were then the trip would be a little shorter, and faster. A day or two, and Stugs could be in Albany.

John decided to recall Gentry for a meeting, and had Catherine and her radio-tracking T-800's meet him in Jacksonville, Missouri. He had Derek come to the meeting also, this concerned him as well.

.

Derek felt he'd sold his soul to the devil, and he was loving it. Actually, he was loving Laura. Whether they were making love in bed, on his desk or just sitting side by side, touching legs during a staff meeting, Laura filled his private world. Derek noted another thing that should be concerning him, but it wasn't.

A quarter of his troops now wereT-800's with TX or human leaders. From the platoon level up to the division level, his forces were filled with machines. Machines and men fought and mingled together. Medics carried wounded men and disabled terminators back to aide stations for healing or repair. It was standard now to have a Stug crew with a terminator with them for support. In fact, human captains that didn't have at least one terminator in their ranks, were asking for them. Terminators were great scouts and good snipers as well.

Many of his terminators showed welds or had new parts from being reconstructed. Some had originated in Weaver's factory, many more of them had been re programmed, taught morals and now wanted to free their fellow terminators from Sky Net. A new part of boot camp was not just on how to shoot, but to how to shoot a terminator to disable them so the chip could be pulled and they could be sent back and 'freed', then they decide what they wanted to do. It was also not lost on them that it was John Connor who was leading the anti-Sky Net resistance, and ordered all enemy terminators be saved that was possible.

Derek went to John's meeting with Laura by his side. They walked into the conference room holding hands, not even thinking about it. John and Cameron eyed them with smirks as Derek held Laura's chair, then sat down beside her.

"What?" Derek asked in a challenge, seeing them watch this.

"Nothing," John said with a smirk and a wave of his hand.

Derek noted the pair of Latino looking TX's behind John and Cameron. He knew they were TX's, because as of recently all the female TX's had three breasts so they could produce more nanites for healing now as well as curing radiation sickness.

When Gentry came in, he had a TX with him as well. Catherine Weaver came in alone. After all the greetings were made, John got down to business.

"I've been thinking about this almost constantly. I have an idea where to scout for this Sky Net," John told them. "We know it was designed and built at some think tank in California. We also know that while I and a few others got some 'future' knowledge that helped us, Sky Net did also. Catherine, what did you do when Sky Net attacked John Henry back in your lab?"

"I moved him. It was the only logical thing to do," she replied.

"Yes," John said. "You get him out of danger. Now imagine you're Sky Net. You gain sentience, you know there will be a human resistance against you. You don't know about machines joining this resistance yet. The military tries to shut you down, you do your best to get rid of them. To ensure you survive, you split yourself so if even one segment of you if found and destroyed, you still exist."

"Yeah!" Gentry agreed. "We got Sky Net, but there's another one."

"I'm sure there is more than one more," John stated. "From the data collected, there is another to the northeast of where the one we did take down was at. I've been looking hard at the data, with Cameron and Marisa's help, and traced a line in the direction of that signal path. There are a few cities it comes close to, but Albany New York is the city that signal line passes right over. Albany also had a university where AI work could be, and most likely was done. If I wanted to hide from people in California, I would want to make sure that they would never find me. I'd want to be as far from them a possible. Albany would be a great place to hide."

"Makes sense," Derek agreed. "But how do we know for sure?"

"Sky Net controls it's units directly," Catherine stated. "We send in T-800's to monitor communications, and get directions on the signals like we did in Tennessee. We will then know for sure if Sky Net is there or not."

"Correct," John stated. "Colonel Gentry, I'm promoting you to General. Work with Mrs. Weaver on getting T-800'S up in the upper part of New York state. Find out if my theory is right or wrong. Go north into Canada, keep up your search and rescue missions and search for Sky Net. You're going to be pretty much on your own, militarily, Derek already has a very wide front to handle. Your supplies can be brought by tunnel up to Detroit, and I'm sure with a few snow tunnels, right up to your current base. Be sure to send back reports."

Gentry nodded and said, "Thank you, General," He turned to Weaver and said, "We meet after this meeting?"

"Indeed."

.

Captain Frank test dove the Onyx and ensured everything worked, including the snorkel system. The modified ex- diesel engines performed well on the Hydrogen/ Oxygen mix, and his crew didn't breathe, so there was no reason to drive on top of the water. It did use a considerable amount of energy to run the electrolysis units to produce the gasses from seawater, and the engines did need more cooling, but with the power the engines produced, they didn't need to run at a high RPM to power the ship and supply the electrical needs.

Frank did note it was best to run just under the surface with the snorkel mast raised and the periscope up. The snorkel mast brought on fresh air and blew the engine exhaust overboard. By cooling the exhaust, they recovered a substantial amount of water so it could be recycled. Also, running the engines without the snorkel mast up sucked the air out of the boat, making it very difficult to open up a hatch to the outside when they were on the surface.

Getting out of the Gulf, the moved through the Caribbean sea and spotted a cruise ship listing over on a reef in shallow water. Captain Frank came to the surface and closed on the ship. It looked dead. The stern of the big ship was in deep enough water that he was able to slide up behind it and threw a line up to a railing. He and his crew searched the ship to find decaying bodies. Some died violently near the kitchens and food areas. Many were in bunks. A few lifeboats were missing. There was nothing to salvage, so they got back on their sub and continued on.

A freighter they found drifting was in the same shape. Everyone on board dead, and the ship had run out of fuel. Another one, a fishing boat, bore storm damage and was listing over. Again, no one alive and the fuel was gone. Yet another ship was all but sunk, low in the water and listing to port so the main deck was awash, Captain Frank just scrutinized it with the periscope and moved on. He noted every ship they found, it's condition and location, and the ocean currents in case a salvage attempt was to be made.

South of the Azores, Frank noted a freighter. This ship was different than the others. It was moving. He tracked it and found it was headed north at 8 Knots. Angling towards it, he scoped out the decks and the wheelhouse. Coming closer, he saw movement in the wheelhouse. At the helm, a silver terminator was driving. Sky Net had commandeered this ship. Captain Frank was going to commandeer it back.

The Onyx had a top submerged speed of 17 knots now, the freighter was only doing 8. He slipped up and came up along the side of the ship. Surfacing and slowing to match speeds, he got his terminators up on the sail bridge and threw a grapple up to catch the railings. His terminators climbed up and made their way to the bridge.

Not expecting anyone to attack this ship at sea, Sky Net only had four of it's terminators on board and none of them had weapons. It was easy for Captain Frank's crew to subdue them and pull their chips. Captain Frank had six of his crew stay on the freighter as the rest returned to the Onyx. The freighter turned to head for Corpus Christi, and Captain Frank turned back on the freighter's previous route to look for another Sky Net ship to hijack.

.

Savannah went to see John Henry in his lab so he cold explain few math problems the teacher didn't seem able to do. She went in to find John Henry sitting in a chair, shirtless, the flesh from his left shoulder and upper arm was on the table. He had a optical scope in his shoulder, watching the display monitor as he moved his arm.

"John Henry! What are you doing?" Savannah cried.

John Henry turned to offer her a creepy smile. "Hello, Savannah. I am inspecting my mechanical joints to help me understand why a T-888 is a superior design to the T-800, even though the frame itself is smaller. What I am finding is that it the material I am made from is superior, not the design itself. With a few minor exceptions, the design is the same."

Savannah sat down to watch him. "You had to rip yourself up to do that? That looks like it really hurts," Savannah said, twisting her face up.

"Yes, my pain sensors did register high discomfort. I had to turn them off, or I would have not been able to perform this test. The sensations were too distracting," he told her.

"Isn't there another way you could have done that?" Savannah asked. "You hurt yourself, John Henry!"

"I am the only functioning T-888 known at the moment," John Henry replied. "I am sorry if this distresses you, Savannah, but I had to discover why my smaller frame is superior to the units we are making now. Sky Net made my frame, so I must learn how to make one equal in quality, or better if possible."

"You can put yourself back together, right?" Savannah asked.

"Yes, I have four minutes and ten seconds to reconnect my flesh before it degrades to the point where it will begin to decay."

Savannah left her books on the table and said, "Where is the first aide kit? I'll help you."

John Henry smiled at her again. "Thank you, Savannah. It is in that file cabinet, third drawer down," he told her.

Savannah got the kit out, which was a needle, thread and bandages. That was it. "John Henry, I think this kit is missing a few things," she told him.

"That kit is fine. The plasma cutter, welder and heavier equipment are in the lower drawers for proper weight balancing of the cabinet. Otherwise the cabinet may tip over when the drawer are open," John Henry explained.

Savannah let out a giggle and said, "That's not what I mean. You don't need anything like disinfectant, or, I don't know, some pain relief?"

"I take care of pain management myself and my nanites will remove any possible infectious materials," John Henry replied, watching his monitor. He then pulled the optical scope out and picked up his shoulder flesh. .

Wincing, Savannah noted, "That is really disgusting."

"Why?" John Henry asked and slapped his flesh back on.

"Because I don't like to see you hurt!" Savanna said firmly. She helped him get his flesh in place, the cuts matched then got out the needle and thread.

"Yes, you are my friend, so you do not like to see me injured," John Henry said.

"That's right," Savannah replied. Sticking the tip of her tongue out for concentration, She began sewing his shoulder back on. "This is really gross,' she added.

John Henry watched her work, noting how intent she was just putting his flesh back together. She was showing great care in positioning his flesh and making sure the seamed matched. Much more that he would be. He didn't think such things were critical. "This is hard for me to do by myself, you are being a great help, Savannah," he told her.

Savannah flicked her eyes at him. "If my dumb brother rips his own shoulder off, how can I not help him get himself back together?" she asked.

John Henry cocked his head and said, "I can speak, I am not dumb."

Letting out a snorting chuckle, Savannah said, "What I mean is I'm sure you could have done something else besides rip yourself apart to study your joints."

"I did not rip. I cut my flesh off so I would be able to reattach it," John Henry said, correcting her.

"Before you experiment on yourself, will you please ask me for help first?" Savannah asked in a pleading tone. "Maybe an X-ray or some other solution can be found other than cutting yourself apart."

"I will consider it," he said firmly.

"Thank you."

Once Savannah got his flesh sewn up and wrapped it up in bandages, she finally got to ask him about her algebra problems.

.

Captain Frank was cruising off the west coast of Africa when he ran into another ship heading his way. Again, he circled around and slid up beside the ship and sent over a boarding party. Again, they found only 4 terminators on board and disabled them. This time he looked into the holds to find it was filled with coltan ingots, not ore. Noting the location and the direction of the ship, He continued on the ship's back trail after he sent the ship on it's way to Texas.

Frank had found the ships 8 days apart, which meant Sky Net was mining and refining coltan at a fast rate. He only had enough terminators on board for one more highjacking.

Upon getting his third ship, he had to return and get more terminators.

.

Things were slowing down in John's command center. Yes, there was plenty of routine traffic. Supplies and equipment came in from their now 8 factories. Gentry was in place and sending out scouts into New York. Gentry's train tunnel expedition going southeast ran into a cave-in, and Gentry had sent engineers down to see if they could open the tunnel back up.

Derek was probing ahead, re-tuning Sky Net towers and not finding any active Sky Net units. More survivors were found and treated. Instead of hundreds of individuals, there were only a few in any given place. Derek was finding most survivors of the blasts had died, either by radiation, or by being found by Sky Net units.

Bedell was well into Alabama, and also forming a Resistance navy on the gulf coast. It was from him the best news came. The Onyx was coming back from it's African mission with three freighters loaded down with Coltan ingots. Weaver immediately send a train to retrieve the coltan. Now TX production could be started on a grand scale.

.

Sky Net Europe noted an odd event. When a shipment of coltan from Africa was overdue in port, it had concluded the ship had ran into a storm and sunk. Then another failed to arrive. Reports from Sky Net Africa showed the ships had been leaving on schedule. Only one ship out of the last 5 ever made it back into port. Something was happening to it's ships and it had slowed production down greatly. This was a concern, for there were still humans holding out in isolated areas, and nothing had been heard from in North America at all. It needed more units to find out what was happening there. Both segments agreed an H/K and armed terminators would be send on the next freighter to discover what was happening to these ships.


	19. Chapter 19

CH 19

Sky Net east moved itself to the coast. There were ships afloat in Norfolk Virginia. It put it's units to work on a ship that had network communications, clearing out the human bodies and getting the ship ready to move. This time, when humans came to hunt it down, it would be out to sea and safe. Maybe then it could contact other segments who it desperately needed help from.

.

With everything John looked at as going well, and the long lapse in Sky Net activity, he decided it was time to officially make Cameron his wife.

Cameron was excited they were finally getting married. Derek, not so much, but he was happy for them. Sarah conceded, not really liking it, but knew that by now, it was only a formality. Claire on the other hand, was ecstatic. She told Cameron she was going to make the arrangements and the party. Of course, John and Cameron set the date and Cameron had the final say in all the planning, but they worked together to make it happen. John wanted to help but Claire informed him that this was a bride thing and to just be sure he had a good, clean uniform on for the ceremony.

The first thing needed was a nice white wedding dress for Cameron. Cameron and John had determined the location they wanted. Delta base, their original bunker where the resistance had begun. Now, instead of a true base, it was more of a production facility for food. It took in plant remains for fertilizer and goat food, and was all garden in the lower tiers.

Major Alex Crammer, Delta CO, was also eager to host the Connor wedding. To him it was a great honor to have his post be selected for the event. Using the largest room he had on the first tier, he had it cleaned out and cleaned up. The room would fit the two hundred plus people coming.

So far, the limited television network that showed recorded happenings of the resistance, only covered the caverns, LA and Las Vegas facilities. For this event, the data wire would be used to broadcast the wedding live all the way up to Denver, down to Corpus Christi and out to Detroit.

Back on the west coast, General Perry was looking to contribute to this monumental wedding in some way. The had some people why had been musicians before the war. He got them together and had them come up with a fitting tribute to John Connor and Cameron Conner that reflected the new reality, but also paid tribute to the pre-war world.

In LA, Catherine was busy retooling to make TX's en-mass. The historic wedding got her attention as well. This was the first time a man and machine were to be joined in wedlock. The very act mirrored the acceptance between man and machine in the resistance. It was going to be a monumental day. She wanted to do something special to commemorate it. She talked to Mr. Ellison, and he agreed to officiate.

.

The wedding was monumental event also for the pair of Grays who had been working at Delta base. For once, they knew where John Connor was going to be, time and place. He normally didn't announce where he was going to be, Connor came and left before they could plan anything. Now, they had him!

Taken in as survivors, Richard Cypher and Edgar Price had been biding their time, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate Connor. They wanted their reward, their weight in gold, and rule over the entire west coast for killing the fool Connor who didn't realize that Sky Net was the ultimate authority. Connor had started this war. Without him, the resistance would fall apart.

Richard and Edgar managed to get on the setup crew to get the rooms ready for the wedding. Now that they knew exactly where Connor was going to be, it was easy to plant a bomb inside the alter where that idiot Ellison was going to perform the disgusting ceremony. Besides challenging Sky Net, Connor was going to make a mockery of one of it's perfect creations and marry it! Such a thing was blasphemy.

Richard and Edgar had asked Colonel Crammer, all but begging, to make the alter for the wedding. Wood was in scarce supply, but they knew where to get some. It was only most of a sheet of plywood and a few 2x4's that had been left in a truck outside, buried in snow. To be able to claim they were the ones who killed Connor, they took on the task to dig the truck out and get the wood.

It was hard work shoveling the truck out and then hauling the wood inside. Richard and Edgar brought the wood in and began building the small alter, carefully sanding and putting it together, then sanding more. On a shelf they enclosed behind the cross Edgar carved out on the front, they hid the jars of tannerite. They had kept the explosive meant to long range target practice. The material took a large shock to set it off, but it was a powerful explosive.

Being guarded closely, they knew to try and walk up to Connor to shoot him was suicide. He would most likely be covered even during the wedding, but the altar would not be. Once Connor was standing near it, a shot right into the center of the cross would set off the tannerite and blow his evil ass away. A small hole in the stone wall into the next room would allow Edgar to place one perfect shot. He'd then hide the gun and rush in to 'help' and ensure Connor was dead. Richard was going move the cover for the hole so Edgar could shoot, then grab the rifle hiding under the refreshments table to make sure Connor died.

.

The white satin cloth Mrs. Weaver had managed to scrounge up was laid out on the table where Claire and Maria worked at Cameron's wedding dress. Maria knew Cameron's measurements, and made the cuts, allowing material for seams. Claire carefully stitched the pieces together by hand.

"What I wouldn't give for a sewing machine," Claire grumbled.

Not taking her eyes off the material she was cutting, Maria said, "The barter trade system is in place, but I have not seen a sewing machine anywhere," she said.

That made Claire grin. "No, they all need electricity now. We've been kicked back to the 1800's. Everything done has to be by hand, except for vital projects."

"Mrs. Weaver's base has two sewing machines to make uniforms for us, but she will not barter them," Maria explained.

"I'm sure she won't," Claire agreed. A faint smile lit her face as she added, "Then again, I suppose this is better in a way, making my daughter's wedding dress by hand. I am so glad that Cameron has found some happiness in her life. She has had it so hard for so long."

Maria paused and looked at Clair. "You adopted Cameron as your daughter?" she asked.

"No, dear. It is complex, but Cameron is my daughter, though greatly changed. She became … what she is to fight Sky Net. When she was born, Cameron was human. I don't understand it completely, but she was in the first time line. She fought Sky Net before, then came back in time to take care of John." With a sigh, she added, "Now, she has to do it again."

"Cameron changed herself from human into a machine," Maria said, understanding.

"I don't know how, but yes," Claire agreed.

"Nanites," Maria concluded. "Builder nanites can do that. I learned that in school. I have not seen it myself, but it is possible. Cameron is the most advanced terminator, that would explain why."

Claire looked up from her work and asked, "I thought you were one of the latest models?"

"I am," Maria agreed. "I have the latest tech and programming, but I still lack what Cameron has, a human style brain. I had thought that the digital brain was superior, but watching what Cameron and John come up with, at the time, seemed like foolish tactics, but what they planned out worked out perfectly. I am sure Cameron is learning from John.

I also have noted that while in the surface, emotions seem pointless, but they are very important."

"Yes, they are," Claire agreed. "Emotions give you a drive to do something. Even making Cameron's dress, if you want to make sure it's perfect, they you will pay more attention to your task to ensure it's perfect. The same with fighting Sky Net, emotions give you the drive to find the option that will work the best."

"That is how John can come up with his tactics?" Maria asked.

"I'm sure that is part of it. I imagine there are many things to consider," Claire told her.

"Thank you, Claire, you have given me much to consider," Maria told her.

"I will help you however I can, dear," Claire replied.

Maria was silent for a moment, then said, "You area good mother, Claire."

"Why thank you!" Claire beamed. It was the best compliment Claire could ever receive.

.

On the Texas coast, General Bedell was using half his forces on working to modify the USS Cacalla, SS 244. The hull has been reinforced, and the sub was sitting at dock, outdated equipment being replaced by modern digital controls so it could fire the MK 48 ADCAP torpedoes they had found a large supply of, as well as the Tomahawk missiles in the bunker. The USS Stewart, DE-238, another WW2 relic was on the water being rebuild an rearmed. There were also two huge projects going on.

USS Lexington, CV16 now had two cranes on the dock beside it, lifting heavy parts up onto the ship. While the interior was being worked on and the elevators were being refurbished, On the flight deck, six H/K 's were perched. Now having the oil from the remaining wells and refineries that were back in operation in Texas, the engines of these ships didn't need to get modified.

Not all the coltan from the now 4 freighters Captain Frank had hijacked went to California. The USS Texas, BB-35, was being supplied with a coating of coltan where the hull was thin. In dry dock, the armored warship was being torn apart to be rebuilt with modern equipment. Having no shells for the big guns, shells had to be made. Wanting accuracy over volume, these new coltan tipped shells were more like missiles shot from a gun. The rifling of the guns were ground out to be smooth bores. The 14.5 inch shells were longer, and had guiding fins. A single charge of powder in the breach lit the rocket engine of the shell when it was fired. A test of the system on a barge showed the shell picked up speed after being fired and homed in on it's target to utterly destroy the barge.

Besides sonar and radar being added to the ship, the old steam engines were being taken out and replaced by more powerful steam turbines. Four large 1000KW generators were also put in to power the new electronics and the 20 radar guided plasma cannons that replaced the old self defense guns. When this ship was ready to go to war, it was going to be bad ass.

The tiny sub that was named GOLDFISH the TX's had made, also went through an overhaul. With limited space, it got a small engine to propel it and a pump-jet propulsion screw that greatly increased it's speed. A snorkel system was added, and the periscope was now able to raise and lower. For it's size, that was all could be done with it. Under water, the screw still needed to be pedaled. The Goldfish did get it's first assignment. Scout the east coast for shipping, and sink anything Sky Net had there. It only had two torpedo tubes and six reloads, but it was functional- if not more than a little tight on the inside.

When the Onyx came back, it was going into overhaul to get some weapons also.

.

John and Cameron went to the 'chapel', the room being prepared for their wedding ceremony. Mr. Ellison had come, as did Savannah, Mrs. Weaver and John Henry. Sarah arrived to support John. Claire came with toddler Allison and Daniel, who was going to walk Cameron down the isle. John Henry was happy to stand up with John as his 'best man'.

While Mr. Ellison walked them through the ceremony, Maria and Marisa studied the room for any security risks. With the paper decorations on the walls they scrutinized the room, lifting up decorations to to be sure nothing but wall was behind them. In the back of the room behind the table there, they lifted up a 'Happy wedding Day' poster to find a hole in the wall. It was only 1.5 inches in diameter, but it was fresh.

"This may be a risk," Marisa said.

"We should plug it.," Maria agreed.

Coming to the back of the room with Daniel to for a 'practice' walk down the isle, Cameron noticed what they were doing. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

"We don't know, There is a hole in the wall behind this poster," Marisa said, pointing to the hole.

Cameron eyed the hole the looked at the alter. "Marisa, keep holding the poster up. Maria, come with me," Cameron said. To Daniel she said, "Wait here, please."

Walking out to the next room, Cameron went in. It was a store room and half filled with furniture and things taken from the other room, She noted there was clear path to the hole. Cameron looked through the hole to see the alter. "This is a threat," she stated.

"Should we plug the hole?' Maria asked.

"Negative," Cameron told her. Looking around the room, Cameron searched through the items. Not finding any weapons, she told Maria, "Tomorrow, when we come in, you hide there, behind that display board. If someone comes in here, watch them closely. This hole is aimed right at the alter where John and I will be standing. I believe this is an assassination attempt."

"Do I subdue them?"

"Do whatever you must to keep them from pointing a weapon through that hole," Cameron stated.

Maria nodded. "I will ensure no one endangers you or John," Maria stated.

"Don' tell anyone we found this, except Marisa, and tell her very discretely," Cameron cautioned. "We want whoever this is to come in here. Then we can arrest them and find out if anyone else is involved."

"Yes, that is logical," Maria agreed.

Cameron and Maria went back into the room where everyone was waiting. "I am just a little nervous," Cameron explained with a tiny smile, which was met with some mirth.

Cameron kept an eye on the poster that was back in place as she went over her vows with John. With her on one side and John on the other, John would be exposed. She decided that under her dress, she was going to wear a thigh holster and her 9MM, just in case.

.

After the practice, Cameron was hauled off to the caverns. Not only was it 'bad luck' to see John the day before their wedding, but Sarah and Claire had to get Cameron ready for her big day.

John was confined from seeing Cameron. He noted that Marisa didn't give him any room. She stayed tight to his side, and scanned constantly, even in his office here. Derek came in to talk to him and she watched Derek like a hawk.

After a few moment of this, Derek asked John, "What's up with miss eyeballs there?"

"Don't know, she's been acting nervous all day," John told him.

"I am just ensuring General Connor's safety," Marisa stated.

"By staring at Derek?" John asked.

"I cannot trust anyone," Marisa stated.

Derek let out a snort and said, "Yeah, John, I might beat on you with one of your terminators right here."

John had to grin at that. He asked, "Marisa, you're not normally like this. What's up?"

Marisa paused and said, "The ceiling is above us."

"Good one," John said with a nod. "Now tell me why you're acting like an assassin will appear out of the stonework."

Marisa tipped her head slightly. "They can do that?" she asked.

"No, but you're acting like it," John told her.

"Everyone knows you're here, if an assassin is waiting, this would be the best chance to find you, General. The threat level is higher when you are exposed," Marisa stated.

"I highly doubt Derek is going to try to kill me," John said firmly. "Relax."

Marisa shifted in place. Her face was blank.

"I don't think she's going to relax, John," Derek noted.

"Yeah, something's up. Could you give us a few minutes?" John asked.

Derek nodded. "I was going to check on the latest reports anyway. Besides, I want to check on Laura." He got up and left.

Marisa checked the hallway and closed the door behind him.

"Marisa, sit down," John coaxed.

Marisa did, between him and the door which was on his side of the desk.

John eyed her and asked, "Are you afraid something is going to happen?"

"I always am."

"Not like this, Marisa," John told her. "Something has you spooked. By spooked, I mean you are very worried someone is going to make an attempt on me. Right?"

"Yes, an attempt to end your life," she agreed.

"Why now?" he asked.

Marisa paused, then said, "Everyone knows you're here."

"Everyone knows when I go to meetings also, but you've never acted this nervous before," he pointed out.

Someone dropped something in the hallway, Marisa shot up and spun to face the door.

"Marisa? Tell me," John said.

Marisa turned back around and sat down. "Cameron said I can't tell anyone," she stated.

"About what?" John asked.

Marisa looked down then said, "I think I am having an emotion," she said.

"What emotion are you having?" John asked gently.

Studying her, he asked. "Cameron said you can't tell anyone about your emotions?"

"No. I can tell you about my emotions. The extra caution I am showing, I believe is called nervousness. I am seeing threats that are not there," she explained.

"Is that all?"

"No, I also feel conflicted," she admitted.

"About what?" John prodded.

"Cameron doesn't want you to know, but I feel obligate to tell you," Marisa told him.

"That's understandable," John said. "Maybe if you just told me, it would be easier for you?" he asked.

"I can't. Cameron doesn't want anything to ruin your wedding day," she explained.

John leaned closer. "OK, so what's going to happen on our wedding day?" he asked, then quickly added, "Besides getting married."

Marisa took on a lost look briefly. "I don't know for sure."

"Does this have anything to do with the hole in the wall you and Maria found?" John asked.

Maria cast him a brief, surprised look.

"I saw you girls looking at it," he told her. "You are afraid that hole was made by an assassin who intends to shoot me during the wedding."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I am learning to read you, plus, like I said, I saw you inspecting the hole, as did Cameron and Maria," John replied.

"We don't want such a threat ruining your wedding," Marisa stated.

"It won't," John stated firmly. "I know that, because I know you and Maria will keep us safe. You know when the assassin plans to strike, correct?"

Marisa nodded.

"So you know when and where he will try to strike from?" John prodded.

"Yes," Marisa said.

"Then the answer is easy. Stay in the back and stand in front of the hole so whoever it is can't see," he told her.

"Yes!" Marisa said, brightening up.

"Easy, wasn't it?" John asked with a smile. "Now you know what to do so you don't have to be nervous or worry about having a conflict, right?"

Marisa's smile dimmed. She said, "But Cameron didn't want you to worry."

"I'm not worried, I know you will protect us," John said. "Maria is going to cover the other side of the hole to see who this is, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Then you, Maria and Cameron got it covered. There is nothing to worry about right?"

Marisa was silent briefly, then said, "Thank you, John. My emotions are calming down."

John wasn't sure why, but he clasped her hands stood up. Marisa stood up with him. He hugged her and said, "Everything will be fine."

Marisa stood in shock briefly, then hugged him back. This felt good! She snuggled into him, enjoying the sensation and said, "Thank you, John."

"You're good now?"

"Yes, I'm good." For some reason she felt her face warm. When John released her, she let go too, a little disappointed. She wanted to hug a little more.

Even after John went back to work, Marisa swore she could still feel the hug. A question came to her. If she got emotional again, would he hug her again?

.

"I don't have much," Claire said getting out her makeup kit, "But enough to highlight your features some," she told Cameron who was sitting as Claire worked on her.

Claire had used a spray of water and a warm cylinder of rock to give some strands Cameron's hair that hung down in front a curly look. The spirals bracketed her face. The rest of her hair was wavy, flowing down her back. Now, Claire was intent on coloring Cameron's eye lids and brushing her eyebrows with a tiny black brush. Cameron sat stock still as Claire worked.

"I'm glad you know how to do this, I don't have a clue," Sarah said.

Also watching, Maria asked, "Why is coloring Cameron's face important?"

Intent on her work Claire said, "This is a special day, Cameron needs to look as good as we can make her. This isn't coloring, I am highlighting Cameron's features."

"Making Cameron's features stand out is important." Maria said, understanding.

"She is looking very pretty," Sarah noted. "Claire, you do good work."

"Thank you." Claire said as she scrutinized Cameron's eyes. She then used a soft brush to just flick it on Cameron's cheeks to barely leave a light "blush' Then selected some lipstick and carefully applied it.

Maria watched, intrigued. As she watched, she had her nanites set to add pigmentation to slightly alter her eyelashes, cheeks and lips.

.

Following General Bedell's orders he gave before he went to Delta base, Captain Frank had the inner torpedo tube doors cut open. Whoever welded them shut had welded the locking ring lugs to the doors shut. Since the doors were steel, and the locking rings were brass, a wedge had been welded on place to keep the doors shut. With fine cuts, the wedges were removed. Opening tube one, they found it empty. When tube 3 was open, they found a torpedo was in it. Pulling it out, it was an old Mk 14. Tube 5 was empty. On the ports side, tube 2 had some water it, tube 4 and 6 were empty. On the aft end of the ship, tubes 7 and 8 had been used for storage. The outer doors were welded shut and the inner doors were missing.

The old MK 14 was a manually set torpedo that would run it's course as set. It had no guidance. It was offloaded so another team could take it apart for salvageable parts.

Captain Frank found getting the torpedo tube functioning again was the easy part, they now had to replace all the piping and air systems to rebuild the torpedo launching system that had been torn out, as well as make all that racks that held torpedoes.

.

The Goldfish, now under command of Captain Dave, were finding nothing floating but craft that had corpses in them. Dave noted where they were and moved up the east coast of Florida. In a couple places, there were so many he had to move around the large glop that clogged the shore and out onto the water. Keeping in mind the boats and ships might be salvageable, he didn't sink any of them.

When cruising up the northern shore of Florida, the sonar picked up a noise closing in. It was a very low humming sound. Dave turned his scope to watch the bearing the noise was coming from. He surfaced to get the periscope higher and get a better look. 900 yards away, he saw another periscope. He slowed to let whatever ship that was, come closer. Torpedoes didn't even arm until they were 1500 yards out from the firing ship, so he knew that other sub wasn't going to shoot unless they moved away. The Goldfish did have a tight turning radius so if it did move away to attack, he could turn to face it.

The periscope came closer, then grew in height as the other sub surfaced. There were no planes on the sail so it was an attack boat. The sea was calm so Dave opened his sail hatch and stood up half way out of the sail and waved.

The other sub slowed and came close. Men appeared in the bridge. Dave steered closer until the ships were only a few meters apart.

"Hello, I'm Captain Dave, This is the submarine we made, we call it the Goldfish," Dave called.

The man leaning over to look down on him said, "That's a cute little boat, doing recon?"

"Yes, we're looking for possible Sky Net craft on this coast," Dave told him.

"I'm Captain Barret, USS Seawolf. Where are you from?"

"Los Angeles, but we're ported in Corpus Christi, Texas. General Bedell is our commander."

"How much of the US is left? We just came down the coast, and heard you. Haven't seen anything but ruins."

"Yes, Sky Net has destroyed almost everything. We are having to build as we go. General Bedell can tell you all the details. When you arrive, make sure everyone on your ship gets anti-radiation medicine. Kathy, Mindy or Tina can give it to you. Major Lawrence is in charge of the port, see him for your supplies."

"Do you have safe food?" Captain Barret asked. "Everything here is radioactive."

"We do, it's grown in safe places underground. We even have goat and catfish for meat," Dave explained. "John Connor, the leader of the resistance, has planned well. Have you seen any ships that have crews?"

"Just drifting hulks," Captain Barret said. "How many men you got on that little thing?"

"Only four of us. A few torpedoes, but if Sky Net is operating a ship, we can sink it," Dave said confidently.

"Did you make those too?"

"No, they are standard Mark 48's, just like the Onyx will be getting. There is little room in here, but we can function," Dave explained.

"Is there anything you want to report back to Corpus Christi?"

"Not as of yet, all we've seen are drifting ships, no survivors, no Sky Net terminators, no air traffic," Dave told him.

"Very well. We're heading off to get supplies, we're running very low on food. Good hunting, Captain Dave," Captain Barret said and saluted him.

Dave returned the salute and said, "Safe trip, Captain Barret."

The Seawolf turned away and dove. Dave increased his speed and resumed his search.

.

Marisa followed John into his quarters at the end of the day. He'd had a bachelor party of him and his generals sitting around the table. Standing back and listening, Marisa understood that before the war, a bachelor party was suppose to have alcoholic drinks, food and a stripper. John had none of that. In bits and pieces, she understood this stripper was a woman who took off her clothes and did things like rub her breasts in the future groom's face, plant his head there and rub up against him.

All John and his generals did was sit and talk. There was none of the party things for him. Being such a good man and explaining things to her, Marisa felt he should have at least one of the party things. So when she followed him into his room, she shut the door behind her and took off her jacket.

John stopped to look at his cleaned uniform ready for tomorrow, making sure there was no lint of other debris on it. Tomorrow was the day, he was finally going to marry Cameron so she truly would be Cameron Connor. He was very happy about that, but not happy about spending the night without her.

"John, you're suppose to watch me," Marisa said in almost a pleading tone.

John turned and gapped at her. Some of her clothes, jacket, shirt, pants were draped over a chair and her boots were under them. Showing a lot of deeply tanned skin. Showing fantastic legs, hips wrapped in nothing but black panties and some flat belly as she raised up her undershirt, John's eyes flew open and his heart went into his throat, he cried, "What are you doing!" as he dove to grab her wrists to stop her from taking her clothes off.

Marisa stopped mid motion. She regarded him and said, "You were not watching. I will have to get dressed again and start over."

"No!" John cried then, corrected himself and said, "Yes, get dressed, but … why were you taking your clothes off?"

Holding her undershirt high enough to show her lower ribs and flay belly, she said, "You did not have a proper bachelor party. There was no alcohol, food or a stripper, so I was going to be a stripper for you. You're suppose to watch me take my clothes off."

John gapped at her innocent face. "I … thank you for the … ummm, thought, but you don't have to do that," he told her.

Tipping her head slightly, she asked, "You don't want a stripper?"

"No, Marisa." John said collecting himself together. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, you really don't have to."

"I want to do something for you, John," she said.

"How about something that doesn't require you getting naked?" he asked.

Marisa thought for a moment. She then said, "When I was nervous about the assassin you calmed me down and hugged me. That felt good. If I hug you now, will that make up for not having a good bachelor party?"

John chuckled and said, "Sure."

Marisa immediately pulled him close and hugged him, her undershirt piled up around her upper torso. He hugged her back.

"Happy Bachelor party," Marisa offered as she snuggled into him, closing her eyes.

"Thank you, Marisa," he replied, also noting the breasts pushing onto his chest. "It means much to me that you would try to do something for me."

"Are we friends? I do want to be your friend," Marisa said.

John smiled. "Yes, Marisa, we are friends," he told her.

"Good, I like having a friend. John Henry said it is good to have friends. I understood what he said, but now I get to know what it means. Friends help friends and do things for each other."

"That's right," John said and idly rubbed her back. He then realized he was rubbing her bare skin.

"Yes," Marisa said in a coo. "I wanted you to feel better. You are making me feel good."

John suddenly realized he was getting into dangerous territory. Deadly, actually. He was hugging and rubbing a half naked woman the night before his wedding. Cameron would not be pleased.

John stopped rubbing and released her. "Ahh, Marisa, we need to stop hugging now," he said sheepishly.

Marisa released him with a frown and asked, "Why?"

Trying to sum it up, he said, "Because that leads to other things that Cameron would not like."

She tipped her had slightly and said, "We are not having emotionally damaging sex."

"If we keep going, it might lead to that, and I can't do that to Cameron," John said firmly.

Marisa paused then said, "I believe you, John. I do not want to harm Cameron either."

John breathed a sigh of relief as she went back to her clothes and got dressed. He couldn't help but note that beautiful heart shaped ass. It was too easy to hug her close and show her affection. He was going to have to watch himself very closely around Marisa and Maria.

.

It was time.

John was in his best uniform as he walked to the 'chapel' room, Marisa walking right behind him, scrutinizing everything and everyone for any sign of violence towards John. Coming up to the room, she jumped ahead and looked in the storage room.

"Marisa?" John asked, seeing her frown at the room she stood in the doorway of.

"It's safe, John, no one is in there," Marisa stated.

"Thank you," he told her. He went into the chapel room, Marisa quickly followed. John noted the table along the back wall filled now with food and a few stone pitchers of drinks. She also saw the poster on the wall that announced their marriage. The hole was behind that poster.

Spotting Mr. Ellison and John Henry, John went over to talk to him. Marisa stayed in the back, near inside wall. The hole was covered. As long as that poster stayed in place, whoever was on the other side could not see into this room. If anyone moved that poster, she would know immediately. Everyone else would be watching the other end of the room where John and Cameron would be. Marisa also noted that back here, she was in a good position to cover the door as well as see everyone in the room. This was a good spot to observe and protect John.

.

Richard had volunteered to do catering for the wedding. That made it easy to adjust the white cloth on the table to hide the gun he put under there. It also gave him an excuse to be in the back to rip the poster down at the appropriate time. Edgar was across the hall in another store room. When the ceremony began, he'd get into position and poke the barrel of his gun through the hole enough to make the poster bulge slightly. Richard would rip the poster down, Edgar would shoot, then the tannerite mix would blow away Connor. Waiting for the bride and her escort to come, he went in to take his place by the table.

Going in, he saw Marisa standing by the poster on the wall, on the other side of the table.

Richard went over to her. "Miss, please have a seat," he told her motioning to the rows of chairs.

"I am standing guard," Marisa stated blankly.

Richard then noted her blank face and the fact she had three breasts. Damn, this was one of those machines. If she was standing guard, this had just become a suicide mission. He returned to the other end of the table and tried to come up with a way to keep her from interfering. Checking to be sure the table was set up properly, he noted where the deserts were. He had an idea.

.

Arriving in the Delta base, Cameron, Sarah, Daniel, Claire and Savannah, who was Cameron's bride's maid / flower girl, paused to make sure everyone's - especially Cameron's, dress was wrinkle free and straight. Mrs. Weaver went ahead to let everyone know Cameron was on her way. Maria followed. Instead of going in with Mrs. Weaver, Maria went one door down and into the storeroom next door. Inside, she looked at the hole and found a place behind a filing cabinet to tuck herself into.

Cameron and her small entourage made their way to the hallway outside the chapel. Sarah went in and took a seat in the first row, right in front of her John and John Henry who stood to the right of the alter. James Ellison, in a white robe and holding a bible stood directly in front of the Altar.

Savannah came up the isle in a pink, fluffy dress. The small bucket she had, she spread flower peals along the floor as she walked. Stopping to the left, Savannah announced in a happy musical voice, "Here comes the Bride!"

Several chuckles sounded.

John smiled at Savannah's announcement, then looked to See Cameron walk in on Daniel's arm. He stared at her. Cameron was a vision of beauty. He swore her lovely face had never looked prettier. Cameron met his smile with her own. The room seemed to vanish around him as Cameron came forward. The only thing he could see was her. Even time itself seemed to stop as John gazed at her.

Coming up to John, Daniel passed Cameron's hand to him. John took her hand, still gazing at Cameron's beauty. He distantly noted they were now standing on either side of Mr. Ellison.

A shot rang out.

.

In the store room, Maria heard someone come in. Peeking out from behind her cover, she saw the man walk swiftly in and lift his rifle. Before he could put the muzzle into the hole, she jumped out and grabbed him to spin him around. In shock he fired his rifle, missing her, the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and buried itself someplace in the room. Maria punched him, knocking him out and back into a pile of chairs.

Upon hearing the shot, Richard turned to see the poster in place. He also noticed Marisa snap her head at the poster. Immediately, he knew Edgar had failed. He picked up the bowl of vanilla pudding in one hand and thrust it into Marisa's face, blinding her. Pudding splashed out to the sides from the impact. Richard then grabbed his rifle from under the table. He had to finish this!

Richard drew up on John. Four men near the back, and Sarah from the front pulled their pistols and fired. Mrs. Weaver near the front shot a long, thin spike through Richard's forehead. Marisa, who shook off enough of the pudding to see, saw him put up with a weapon, morphed her arm and fired her plasma cannon into him.

Richard's head snapped back, bullet holes appeared in his chest, then his chest was vaporized by Marisa's shot of high energy plasma. He was dead before his head and shoulders hit the edge of the table to land on the floor. His lower body toppled over.

In the front of the room, Cameron stood in front of John, Holding him behind her with one arm as she pointed her 9mm at the back of the room with the other. The gunman was dead, his pieces cauterized and smoking on the floor before she got a chance to shoot.

"Maria?" Cameron asked loudly.

Maria came in, dragging a man by his collar behind her. "I got him, I'll stand guard over him outside. Maria then looked at Marisa. She tipped her head and said, "Marisa, we have spoons if you want to eat."

"It was a pudding assault," Marisa said flatly. She then wiped the pudding out of her other eye.

Major Grammer scowled at the dead man and said, "We'll have to postpone the wedding until..."

Cameron's voice boomed over him. "We will NOT postpone my wedding!" she announced loudly. Pointing with her gun, she said, "Maria, Marisa, take out the trash! Tie the live one up, we'll interrogate him later. NO ONE is going to stop my wedding! Do you hear me?"

Maria dragged her prisoner out. Marisa picked up the gun and grabbed a wrist and an ankle to drag Richard's remains out.

Mr. Ellison cleared his throat and said, "Cameron take your place and put the gun away."

Cameron did returning her pistol to her thigh holster. She straightened her dress and nodded to Mr. Ellison.

John was nervous about the attempt, but he had to agreed with Cameron, they were here and ready, and he did not want to wait to be married any longer.

The room had calmed down, Mr. Ellison cleared his throat and began, "We are gathered here today to join this man, John Connor, and this woman, Cameron Phillips, in holy matrimony..."

.

Edgar woke up tied to a chair, Catherine Weaver sitting in another chair in front of him watching him calmly. In the corner behind her, the pieces of Richard were piled.

Catherine came right to the point. "Who are your contacts?" she asked.

Edgar knew he was a dead man. "The guy in the corner," he stated.

Catherine lofted an arm and pointed two finger at him. The fingers rapidly grew longer and thinner, her index finger shot into his right shoulder, her middle finger shot into his left shoulder.

"Ghaaaaa!" He wailed as his nerves felt like they were on fire. He wiggled, trying to escape, which made the pain worse.

Catherine withdrew her fingers and said, "Those spots were not the most tender. I can and will, torture you day and night for however long it takes me to find out what you know."

"Fuck you, Bitch!" he spat.

"Such bad language, " Catherine admonished. "Did you know the join humans refer to as the 'funny bone' are very sensitive?" she asked. This time her hands stretched out and wrapped his elbows. She stick her needle like fingers into the backside joints of his elbows.

It looked like Richard was being electrocuted. He shuddered and wailed out, jerking in place. Catherine kept prodding the joints for a full minute then waited for him to stop screaming. He wiggled and panted in a whine as his eyes dripped water.

"I can keep this up for days," Catherine stated. "You will tell me what I want to know."

"I can't!" he whined. "Unless I kill Connor, my family is DEAD!"

"Who had them and where are they?" she asked.

"Sky Net has them!" he cried. "We were taken from our house in Sacramento, the day the bombs dropped at night. I saw them get put into cages. I was to go join the human resistance and kill Connor, of they would be killed!" He growled out, staring at her with tearing, hateful eyes.

"Then they are already dead," Catherine stated. "Sky Net does not keep and human captives, for any reason. Once you kill Connor, what were you to do?"

Eyeing her hands frarfully, he said, "Report back."

"To where?"

"The place my family is being kept … It's in the mountains, south of where the caverns are. There's those metal terminators there."

This time Catherine used her needle like fingers to get under his kneecaps. After he wailed out, shooting spittle from the torture and screaming himself hoarse, she stopped and warned, "Don't lie to me again."

Edgar was in for a very long night.

.

John and Cameron got their 'honeymoon' of a single day in the caverns in the top floor of a new hotel that went up. John didn't know where the big bed, Jacuzzi or the real glass picture windows looking out over the city came from, but it was a very nice apartment. Fake roses were a vase in the middle of the dinning room table, tall red candles were on each side of the vase and rose pedals were sprinkled on the bed.

Maria and Marisa scanned the room carefully, then went just outside the door to guard the, giving them their privacy.

"This is very nice," John said, then turned and smiled at Cameron as he asked, "Isn't it, Mrs. Connor?"

Smiling broadly, Cameron clasped his hands and said, "It is, Mr. Connor." They came together in a hug as they kissed and wandered over to the bedroom, unbuttoning and loosening clothes as they went.


	20. Chapter 20

Ch 20

Captain Barret and his sub wasn't just welcomed at the docks of Corpus Christi, they were cheered. Just beyond the line handlers that came out to help the Seawolf tie up, people came running clapping, cheering, thrusting fists into the air. A home made brow was put in place by a crane that has to shout to get people out of his way. Behind the crane, a box truck with a red medical X on it a white circle waited, with another truck behind it.

A colonel came, yelling, "PEOPLE! WE HAVE WORK TO DO SO BACK OFF!"

The crowd parted and let the crane put the brow in place, then moved off to let the trucks in. The Colonel called up, "Captain! We have food and anti-radiation medicine. Do you have any crewmen who can't make it topside?"

"We have seven bed ridden men." Captain Barret called back.

"With your permission, I'll send Tina over to give them meds," the Colonel replied. "All the rest of your men, have them come to the medic truck to be treated, the next one is the food and water truck."

"Send her over. How did you find medicine that will cure radiation sickness?"

"General Cameron Connor developed it. As long as they haven't died, or very close to it, it will restore people to health. It's a new medicine called nanite, delivered in milk," the Colonel explained.

With the ship tied up, the in port watch was set. After the ship's weapons officer escorted Tina, a busty blonde, down into the sub with a small box on a strap slung over her shoulder. The crew formed a line to visit the meds truck first, then the food truck to get a fresh meal.

.

Curious about this nanite milk, Barret went below with their corpsman to find Tina and the XO headed for the corpsman's shack.

"In here, Ma'am," The corpsman said, leading the way.

In the small space, a thin man laid on the corpsman's counter. His hair was falling out and he looked pale. "Hello," Tina greeted with a bright smile.

The man on the counter covered in a blanket grinned. "Did I die, are you an angel?" he asked weakly seeing a gorgeous blue-eyed blond smiling at him.

"No. I've seen worse," she assured him. She took a covered cup of milk out of the small box she was carrying and said, "I want you to drink this. Can you sit up?"

The man struggled to sit up, Tina put a hand behind his back and helped him. His hands were shaky, so Tina popped the cover off and put the cup to his lips. He drank the contents down. Once he was finished, she helped him lie back down.

"That was good," the man said weakly. "It tasted like milk."

"You have cows that aren't affected by the radiation?' Captain Barret asked.

Tina looked at him and said, "No, all the cattle are dead."

"Then where does that milk come from?" he asked.

"Me."

Barret and the XO stared at her. The man lying down grinned and said, "I can die happy now."

Tina smiled at him and said, "You will not die. In two to three days, you should be restored to full health."

The Corpsman spoke up. "Ahh, Ma'am, why put medicine in your own milk?"

Turning to him, she explained, "It is the most effective way to get my nanites into other people."

"This nanite drug is in you?" Captain Barret asked.

"Yes, and it is not a drug. They are micro machines that heal radiation as well as any other injuries. I am a TX female, so I can produce them and they go into in my milk. It is efficient and as long as I am producing milk, I can keep putting my nanites in it," she explained.

"All TX females can do this?" the XO asked.

"Yes. Cameron was the initial one who developed this procedure. Now, we all can do it. We have hundreds of thousands of people to cure. Unless Sky Net attacks us, that is our main job, to do our best to make as many people as possible resistant to radiation," she told him. May I see the other men who need doses?"

The XO coughed and said, "This way, please."

The man on the counter grinned and asked, "Doc? Think I might need another dose?"

"Behave yourself," he grumbled.

.

Tina gave the men lying in their bunks doses. Just seeing her brightened them up immediately. One asked when he was better, if he could have a date.

"Only after you recover," she told him, which made him try to get up right then.

Tina gently pushed him back in place and told him, "In two days, all right?"

"OK!"

Heading back up, Captain Barret asked, "So, Tina, all the cups of milk for my crew comes from you?"

"No, Kathy and Mindy also milk themselves. They are out on the medic truck."

"Does a woman have to be …. special somehow to produce these nanites?" he asked, thinking they had to have a certain genetic ability, hence the 'TX' designation.

"Yes, they have to be Terminators," she replied.

"What do you mean, by terminators?" he asked suddenly becoming wary.

"Metal skeleton with biologic exteriors. I'm one of the new ones with a Coltan endoskeleton and interior armor. I was build for fighting Sky Net's terminators, but Cameron showed us how we can heal people as well," Tina explained.

"You were built?" Barret asked in surprise.

"Yes, in the LA factory. I went to school there too," Tina said brightly. "Corpus Christi here is my first assignment. Besides distributing my nanites, I am working on weapons development and rebuilding the Lexington."

Getting to the hatch, Barret asked, "You're talking about the old aircraft carrier? THAT Lexington?"

"Yes, we are badly in need of ships," she replied, then climbed up the ladder to go topside.

Clambering up the ladder behind her, Barret got beside her as they walked for the brow. "How many of there of you?"

Tina said, "As of the time I came here, there were 792 female, and 1356 male TX's. I've been here for 4 months, 26 days. By the rate of construction, I calculate there are 917 females total by now, and 1797 males. That is, unless production has increased, which it possibly has."

"You are all machines," he stated.

"Technically we are all cyborgs." she said, correcting him. "A mix of mechanics and biologics."

Captain Barret walked beside her off the ship, amazed that something like this was even possible.

Coming to the medic truck, Tina pointed and said, "Captain, you need your dose also, and don't forge to eat something.

Captain Barret noted a red head and a dark haired woman passing out their cups of milk to his crew. Both were stunning to look at, as was Tina. Tina joined them in passing out the nanite milk. It seemed much had happened since they had gone out on patrol.

.

Captain Dave was motoring along the Virginia coast with the land just out of sight. The sonar picked up engine noise, he also spotted the ship coming from land. Quick figuring told him it would pass ahead of them 1200 yards away. He slowed and turned into it. "Visual and sonar contact, range, 3400 yards … speed, 12 knots."

From below in the torpedo area the tech Bob said, "Tracking. We have a solution if you want to shoot."

Dave zoomed in with maximum magnification. As the ship closed, he said, "It's a warship … no visible crew … there's a H.K on the helicopter deck. Fire one."

"One fired. "

Not sure if that would sink the ship, Dave announced, "Fire two."

"Two fired."

"Diving to one hundred feet," Dave then announced.

They watched on the sonar scan as their torpedoes raced to the target.

.

Sky Net east determined the safest place if could be was just outside of visual range of the land, but still in radio contact with it's forces. Terminators threw the remains of the dead crewmen overboard and made sure the ship worked. Once the ship's servers were ready to receive the digital radio signal, Sky Net East downloaded a copy of itself onto the ship. Now ocean Sky Net got an H/K on the back in case it ran into another ship. The guns on this ship worked as did the sensors. It also had surface to air missiles. Leaving the port, it noticed many small contacts, partially sunken vessels. It steered around these and headed for open ocean to try to contact Sky Net Europe.

The first few miles out, it left most of the debris behind. It then picked up a loud sonar contact that was pinging sonar fast itself. It was a torpedo, only 2000 yards away, and coming fast.

Sky Net Ocean found no surface contacts, and now there were two torpedoes coming at it. It sent it's data back to Sky Net East as the torpedoes closed. It pinged and found three contacts under water. None large enough to be a submarine. It had no defense, so it powered up the H/K that had only it's plasma canon. The H/K lifted off the deck.

The first torpedo hit, lifting the back of the ship high in the air. The H/K was hit by the ship rising up and tumbled to splash down in the water. When the ship slammed back down, normal power went out. Emergency power, a diesel came on. The second torpedo went for the diesel noise mid-ships and exploded, lifting the whole ship up. The ship came back down as the water came back into the hole in the ocean the torpedo had made. The second slam shook the ship and it broke in half. The terminators had opened doors, searching for dead humans, but had not shut them. Power died. Sky Net Ocean had emergency battery power as the ship halves tipped and settled down in the water. There was not enough power to transmit.

Sky Net ocean survived long enough to watch the ship's deck settle down even with the ocean, then water came into the server room and shorted it out. The stricken H/K also filled with water and sank along with the ship.

Sky Net East had gotten the transmitted data until it stopped mid' report about the first torpedo hitting the ship and the second one closing fast. It determined that somehow, humans knew what it was here, and were waiting for the ship to exit the harbor. An escape by ship was not going to work, and the probing human forces were closing in.

Desperate to not be caught here by humans and destroyed, it transferred to an H/K tank and drove north. It ceased transmitting to it's units to minimize the chance of humans tracking it down again.

.

Dave discovered that his little sub did not take the underwater explosions well. Goldfish didn't buckle, but the shaking did dislodge some equipment and caused a few leaks. He drove back to the surface and headed south as fast as the little sub could go. They had more work to do before he torpedoed anything else.

.

John found after his single blissful day of honeymoon with Cameron, there were many messages waiting for him at Delta Base.

Mrs. Weaver had interrogated the living assassin, Edgar, and learned in the North of Mexico was a base of Grays and terminators trying to get information on the resistance. She had contacted General Perry to send a force to deal with them.

In Texas, the Onyx was ready to go to sea with a full load of torpedoes and an extra 20 terminators for boarding actions and was heading out for the African coast to 'capture or sink' any Sky Net freighters they found. The Seawolf was also ready to go back to sea, and was waiting for a mission.. The Goldfish was already on the east coast, also searching for Sky Net units on the water. General Bedell also had troops in Georgia and was heading for South Carolina.

Derek's forces were in western Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia, finding many small pockets of humans who were surviving in caves. The main supplies he needed were food, water and TX females to provide more nanites. He also reported that as Sky Net activity over the air had stopped. In Pennsylvania and New York, survivors were also all what General Gentry was finding. Gardens were growing in their underground facilities. The large salt mines in Detroit were being set up for another factory as well as having a three square mile vegetable farm, and were making a smaller farm for any animals that could be scrounged up. Gentry needed lights and generators.

Catherine Weaver had 7 rebuilt ships on the water and a submarine. She also made the first landing ship that was armed, in expectation of beach landings that were sure to come. An oil tanker was floating down the coast was also found intact, and was being towed into San Francisco bay to be cleaned up and gotten ready for service.

At the Groom Lake facility/ factory and caves, Colonel Albert now had 11 prop driven 'A-10' type ground attack aircraft tested and flyable. Each carried a 20 MM chain gun and six air to ground missiles. Going for the faster and easier to make propeller drives, he sent that he could produce hundreds of theses 'pusher prop' planes to give the resistance an air force so they had something to put up in the sky during battles.

John had to wonder why they were making so much progress with basically zero interference from Sky Net. Sky Net units fought when they were found, but very few now were being found. He was sure Sky Net was up to something. Perhaps a surprise attack when it was ready? That didn't make sense, because it's radio towers were being tuned for resistance radio traffic and guarded as they were found. He did authorize making the propeller planes and sent the Sea Wolf to Gibraltar to find out of the Brits still had it, or if it was under Sky Net control. They were also to capture or sink any Sky Net shipping as long as it did not endanger the Gibraltar mission.

Due to his forces being so spread out, John and Cameron, along with Maria and Marisa as their personal guards, and now a staff of 15 officers, returned to the Cheyenne complex to watch over everything from there. On the way, they joined the train of personnel carriers and new Stugs hauling people, terminators, and supplies. Unlike the previous trips John had taken, this line of vehicles was three miles long. The 'road' was packed down snow with wide lanes. They also passed a long line of personnel carries headed west.

Taking a nap as the long line of vehicles traveled on, John had a dream.

 _Standing before a terminator, John hit it hard, rocking it back. He punched it again, the terminator stumbled and backed up. John tried again to hit it, and it dodged his punch. John kept swinging. The terminator ducked and weaved, avoiding his blows. It's hands tightened into fists. It watched him closely as it ducked and weaved, waiting for it's chance to deliver a devastating blow of it's own._

John snapped awake. His head was on Cameron's shoulder. There was no terminator to swing at.

"John?" Cameron asked. "You had a nightmare?"

John sat up and cast his love a weak smile, "Not exactly. Maybe more of a warning, I think. Derek reported Sky Net is retreating. I can't believe it would do that unless it has some plan to strike back hard at us. We are spread out pretty thin. I guess I'm concerned about a hard counter strike."

"You should be," Cameron agreed. "From all the data I have collected, the Sky Net here did not have sufficient forces. We took it by surprise. The other Sky Net segments have had better communications and now have had time to get stronger. The other Sky Net duplicates will soon know we are here and it is very possible they are strong enough to resist us. We must plan well and expect to encounter them."

"Yeah," John said heavily. "We need to develop a good defenses. I'm hoping we can do that at the shore lines." Even as he said that, he began to think about the Normandy landings in WW2. It wasn't the defenses right at the beaches that stopped or severely slowed down allied forces, it was the troops that came up after the landings that stopped the Allied push. He was sure he'd be facing something like that when Sky Net came for them.

He didn't know if the Sky Net here was destroyed. It was probably trying to contact it's counterparts for help. That made more sense. To do that, it had to get to a place where it could use satellite communications. That meant far north or far south, or maybe even heading out to sea. "We need to canvas Canada, specifically Nova Scotia and Greenland. Alaska too, and Mexico," he said absently.

.

The people Derek 's army were finding were eager to stomp out Sky Net's forces. Having most of their children die from radiation exposure, then women were just as hot for revenge as the men. He found they had collected a fairly impressive stash of a mix of weapons. Including Civil War canons. Although these things were archaic, they did still shoot. His techs found that with a sabot around the 160 MM missile/shells, these canons shot them just fine. Since the shells found their targets, all they needed was a tube to launch them in the right direction. The canons didn't need to be accurate.

In this area, and towards the coast, there were plenty of Civil War memorial sites to collect canons from. Derek now needed more 160 MM shells to feed the old canons being towed by their vehicles.

After being treated with anti-radiation milk, the thousands of survivors Derek was collecting joined his army, swelling his ranks. Moving into southern Pennsylvania, Derek's troops met Gentry's troops. The drive east became more solidified.

.

The leaks on Goldfish were becoming worse, Dave had a hard time just staying on the surface. Plugging a leak on a weld seam, his crew found that the plug split the weld farther open. Dave turned for the shoreline to beach his ship before it sank. Although they could just get out and walk to the shore in the shallow water, he didn't want to waste the torpedoes or equipment they had.

Driving at the beach as fast as the little sub could go, Dave drove past a sand dune island and up onto the shore of what looked like mainland. Goldfish grounded six yards from shore in seven feet of water. Getting out, Dave had his crew get out. Two of them in the front, and two in the back , they lifted their boat. This caused their feet to sink into the bottom.

Pull their feet out, pick up Goldfish and shift it ahead a few feet, then pull their own feet out of the bottom and do it again. Doing this, they got Goldfish up to expose most of the hull. After sinking to their knees. Dave decided this was good enough for now. He led his crew up out of the water to go explore and see if they could find something to help them beach Goldfish so they could repair it.

Walking up the sand dunes, Dave hear a familiar engine noise. He got atop a sand dune and saw a Stug. He waved to it. The commander came out of his hatch and waved back, moving his Stug towards Dave. They now had help.

.

General Perry looked for an experienced officer to lead a force south into Mexico to get rid of the Grays there. The best one he had was Colonel Jesse Flores. He had her place her second in command of the north section and come down to his Palmdale office to take command of another group.

Arriving, Jesse was shown what she was taking to go flush out some Grays who also had terminators with them. Besides the 50 Stugs, 10 personnel transports, 500 men and 40 TX's, she was also given 5 propeller planes that were armed with chain guns and missiles.

"This is the location that the Gray base is located at," General Perry said, showing her on a map. "PLan on them being armed and hostile. Most likely they with have scouts or sensors set up around their base. The planes you have only need a flat runway of 200 yards. Two Stugs have bulldozer blades on them to make a runway if you need to. You only have one tanker of gas for your planes, so use them wisely."

"Got it, General. We'll destroy that place," Jesse assured him.

Jesse met her troops, and wasn't happy TX's were there. Especially the five women. She snorted in disgust that all five bore three breasts. Maybe it was a way to identify them as machines. The plane she had were pusher prop planes. For being prop-jobs, they did have their guns in the nose, and missile pylons. A modified Stug held the missiles, and the tanker truck was with her troops.

Jesse moved out, having Stug scouts lead the way, the bulldozer Stugs leading the column. On many of the Stugs, TX's sat on top. The planes she had were towed behind the Stugs not already towing supply wagons.

One thing that did please Jesse was that the snow here was melting and it wasn't bone-chilling cold. The clouds overhead were thinner, letting more sunlight through.

The border towns in Mexico were already covered by Perry's men. Her force passed over the defense ditches and into Mexico.

The column went for two days without any sign of opposition. Day three, radio chatter was heard, someone reported seeing them. Three Stugs raced out to find a pair of men with a radio. Jesse had them interrogated for information. Once she got all she could from them, the location of their base and the fact the Grays knew she was coming, she shot them. This brought questioning looks from her men and TX's.

Day four, she closed on the Gray base. She sent scouts out near the base, Stugs with TX's on them, and had a runway flattened for her planes. While the planes were being armed and readied to fly, one of her Stugs reported in.

"Colonel, this is Banshee. The base looks inactive, but our TX says the place is loaded with land mines. The base itself is a hundred yards to a side, ten buildings, a perimeter wall eight feet high, and a barbed wire ring around it. At the base of the wall, explosives are set up. It's going to cost us to get in there."

Jesse replied, "Understood. Your TX, can he destroy the mines?"

"Yes, Colonel, she can. By the arrangement of the buildings, and the slit windows, we think those buildings have gun emplacements within."

Jesse planned her attack. After all her Stugs were ringing the fort and her men in place, she'd have them start shooting. Men covering the windows of the fort, the TX's blowing up the mines. The her planes would dive in and take out two buildings. Once they had a path in, she'd send the Stugs and infantry in to clean that place out.

.

Hector Rodriguez climbed into his plane and started it up. Third in the take-off line, he watched the lead pilot take off, then the one in front of him. He powered up to full power, maximum prop angle and ran down the short runway. Pulling up, he lifted up and joined them in a circling pattern, staying low. Once all five were in the air, they flew off to do their attack run.

Passing over the command post, they rose to 5000 feet and saw the smoke ad dust from the battle. In his radio, the lead pilot said, "All right boys, we hit the north end, concentrate our fire on the two buildings dead ahead of us. Make your attack run, then get out of the way for the next guy."

Hector watched the lead begin his dive. The second dove after him. Hector nosed down and followed. Each one did as trained. A burst of 20 MM to be sure they were on target, then shoot off two missiles and climb away. Focusing on the clouded up place where the buildings should be, Hector picked the one still visible to his left. He shot a burst that hit the walls, He released two missiles and pulled up and away. Banking left in a turn, he noticed something beyond the Stugs.

"Flight, this is Hector, we got what looks like H/K's and terminators coming from the east. A whole mess of them!"

A plasma shot then raced by right in front of him. "And they are shooting at me!" he cried and rolled over into a dive, jogging up and down randomly.

"Hector, how many?"

"I don't know! I saw five H/K's and … a bunch of terminators!" he cried. Above him another plasma round flew past. If he hadn't jogged down, it would have gotten him. He dove to twenty feet off the ground and was ground hugging low as he flew for the base.

"Flight, this is Lucas, we got H/K's and terminators from the west! A whole big…."

Off in the distance, Hector saw a fireball in the air. "We're bracketed!" he announced.

.

"It's a trap," Jesse realized aloud. She quickly called off the attack on the base and had her units move north to form a defensive line.

The good things about the Stugs were that they were fast. Picking up all the troops they could to ride on the top, they raced back to small ridges around the command post. Men in desert brown rose up out of the sand to attack them. The Stug guns and the men on top cut them down as they went past. One wounded man was ran over, ending his scream of pain.

Jesse noted the plasma rounds streaking by over her head. On the radio another frantic call came in.

"This is Flight! We got terminators coming from the north! Two dozen spotted so far. It is not safe to land! All planes, after your ammo is gone, head west for the beaches!"

"No can do, Flight. This is Hector, there's a long line of terminators coming from the west. The only out I saw is to the northeast."

"This is Squad three, We're shooting them down, we lost two of our TX's and a Stug lost it's canon. More H/K's are coming. Can anyone reinforce us?"

"Squad two here, we're going to have to back up soon unless help comes."

Flight here, we got all but six terminators, they are on the runway, we only got one Stug left. Can anyone shoot those things?"

Shit, she was surrounded! Jesse called on the radio, "Shrink the perimeter, move to the north."

"The tanker just blew up. Thanks for the strafing run Hector! You got three AND the tanker!"

"Squad Six here, we're clear in front, requesting to break out and run behind the attackers."

"Colonel Flores here, Squad Six, help Squad three and Nine."

"Will do, we're leaving the infantry here."

.

Hector banked around and said, "Sorry about the tanker." He flew back down on the three remaining terminators that were shooting and blew up their missile carrying Stug. He shot a burst and got one, then another. He again pulled up and banked away. Another plane came in and got the last one.

"Flight, we got them!" Jerry called.

Hector was glad they had, but now, they had no fuel, and the only missiles available were on their wings. Another radio called.

"Fly boys, this is Squad Six. Come around and help us get these bastards from behind! H/K's first, then work at the little metal, and don't shoot our own troops!"

.

"Squad Six, where are you?" Jesse asked.

"Right now, running up an H/K's ass. Kill it and use it for cover."

"You were told to assist other squads!" Jesse growled in anger.

"We are! We're taking out terminators and H/K's from behind!"

"That's how we do it," another man said. "They don't turn around unless you don't take them out first shot."

"Squad five here, we're clear, heading out to blast these fuckers from behind."

Jesse was about to yell at them for disobeying orders. The Lt. beside her reached over and pushed her mike down. "Let them fight, they know what they're doing," he said.

Jesse glared at him. She didn't transmit though, not when those Stug commanders were giving them a chance to win this disaster.

.

Once the H/K's were destroyed the Stugs were everywhere shooting and running down terminators. There were no lines of battle left, it was a massive free-for-all. The sun was setting by the time all the terminators were destroyed.

So were Jesse's forces. She had two planes left, 14 Stugs and three transports had been destroyed, the TX's and 430 men were dead. The tanker and the ammo for the planes had been blown up. Even with her greatly diminished numbers, Jesse still insisted they go back to the fort and see what was there.

A pair of Stugs and ten men went into the blown open fort. The place was empty. One man opened a door and the building blew up. The Stug crews brought the wounded up onto their tops and drove out. Jesse had the Stugs hit the rest of the buildings to blow them up before them left.

Jesse headed back north with what she had left, dragging the knocked out Stugs piled with terminators bodies. She wasn't happy the TX's that had gotten it were brought back also. Then again it was material to make new ones.

.

Upon returning into resistance controlled California, Jesse made her report to General Perry. Perry took her report and that of her Lt. He then contacted General Connor to tell him what happened.

John decided that never again, would Jesse Flores take units into battle. Even though Flores knew the Grays were aware she was coming, she had gone straight to the Gray base and fell into a trap. He needed someone else who had a clue what they were doing to take men into battle. .

.

Derek thought had seen the sexiest Laura could be. After his day of monitoring the new recruits training near a town that had somehow survived Sky Net, then studying the progress of his forward scouts that were in the Shenandoah valley in Virginia, the remains of Sharpsburg in Maryland and closing on Gettysburg in PA, he was tired and ready to call it a day. His headquarters were in the town hall that was recently decontaminated, and the old Mayor's office was now his bedroom.

Derek opened his door to see Laura in a frilled out robe that only went to her mid thighs. The thin black robe that looked like silk was lined with a pink trimming, the wide belly belt was also pink edged black cloth that bore pink flowers, tied in the back in a big, loose bow tie. Her hands stuck out of the long, wide bell shaped sleeves, again with a ring of pink at the ends and her legs were wrapped in black fishnet stockings, her feet were in paten leather high heeled pumps.

She cast him a smile over her shoulder. "Welcome back, Derek," she said in a sexy tone.

"Holy mother of God," Derek whispered, taking the sight of her in. When she turned to him, he saw the robe was open up enough at the top that he saw most of her middle breast, and a nice show of both cleavages.

"You like this?" she asked, raising her arms. "It's a nightgown version of a Kimono," she explained. "I found it in a sealed package when we were in a sleepwear store. I decontaminated it to be sure it was safe to wear."

"It's fantastic … very sexy," he said, panning her with his eyes.

"Oh good!" Laura beamed. "I knew you'd be tired, so I wanted something to perk you up."

"I'm perked," he admitted. Upon seeing her, he'd forgotten all about being tired. He'd gone from exhausted to horny in the space of 2 seconds.

Coming over to him with a sway in her hips, Laura unbuttoned his jacket. "Let's get you out of this uniform," she said, grinning broadly at him.

"Yes, let's," Derek eagerly agreed.

Halfway through getting him stripped down, Derek got to open her robe, which required untying the belly belt with a hug and a few long kisses. He found Laura had no bra, but again, black panties trimmed in pink.

Pausing long enough to finish getting undressed, Derek was very eager to get back to kissing and petting. Laura stroked his very hard member and shyly asked, "Oh, is this for me?"

"All yours, baby."

"Oh good," she beamed.

Laura didn't even have a chance to take her shoes off or the robe when she hit the bed, kissing and stroking her lover.

Yes, Derek really liked this kimono-robe.

.

Back to work, John and Cameron updated the map of where his troops were and the new developments. Goldfish had torpedoed a ship Sky Net had commandeered, but was found beached in Georgia with leaks from being too close to the detonations. Jesse Flores had gotten to the Gray base and destroyed it, but had also lost more men and machines than any other battle this size. The Onyx was on it's way back to Africa to get or sink more shiploads of coltan, and the Seawolf was headed for Gibraltar. General Bedell had made the east coast. Derek was slowed due to picking up 5, 230 more survivors so far who'd joined his army, and was collecting Civil War canons that could shoot out the 160 MM missile rounds. General Gentry was in New York state, finding few survivors, but plenty of materials. He found a place east of Rochester where a big battle had taken place. Ruined H/K's, H/K tanks, M1 tanks and many other vehicles were buried in the snow, but recoverable. Gentry reported they had found hundreds of tanks alone. Sky Net had not defeated the army easily. Another battle had taken place along the NY, PA line, again the field of ruined military vehicles included quite a few H/K tanks.

"That must be why Sky Net was so weak by the time it got to us," John said in a musing tone.

"Yes, and with our successes, Sky Net is fleeing to contact another part of itself," Cameron agreed. "I believe it is going north."

Looking at his situation map, John frowned and said, "We're spreading ourselves thin, but at the moment we need to. If Sky Net is trying to get to eastern Canada, we need to block every bridge across the Saint Lawrence and every border crossing. Send a message out to General Bedell, closing off Sky Net's escape."

"John, that will not be practical," Cameron stated. "The Sky Net units our forces are running into are stationary. If Sky Net is fleeing, it will be moving. If General Gentry makes some landing strips, we can send planes to search for any Sky Net units on the move. We should have more planes on the front anyway."

John hugged Cameron and gave her a kiss. "Good thinking, hon, send the message and have Gentry get ready for some planes up in New York. Then send Derek a message, we need a good Colonel to head the army we're sending into Mexico. I'm thinking Colonel Jacobson deserves a promotion, if Derek can spare him."

"Yes John."

Checking the more mundane items, John found the flow of food from his three biggest producers was moving smoothly. Having more area with no Sky Net interference, more railroad tracks were being uncovered and put into use. Having planes now as well, he ordered airports found and plowed out.

After a meeting with his staff, John was feeling good about how well the resistance was doing. Even then, he still had that image in the back of his head of the terminator ducking blows and waiting for the moment to strike it's own knockout punch.

.

Making the coast of Africa, Captain Barret had his ship in high alert. Passive sonar only and cruising at 150 feet so he was shallow enough to go to periscope depth and pop the ESM mast up to listen for analog and digital traffic as well as any radar that might be around. After a five minute listen, he dove back to 150 and continued on.

On the conn as they gave their last listen, sonar reported, "Contact, merchant ship at 021, speed 8 knots, drawing left. Distance, 110 miles."

"Distance to Gibraltar?" Barret asked.

"185 miles, Sir," the navigation station replied.

"Officer of the deck, go deep and chase down that ship." Barret ordered.

"Yes, Captain. Dive, make your depth 800 feet, Helm ahead full." The Officer of the Deck ordered.

Barret went over and looked at the charts. By chart, he was sure that they could catch that merchant before it got to the straits.

"Update on contact Sierra one, Speed and course steady, distance calculated at 87 miles."

Captain Barret watched the chase on the navigation map. They were closing fast on the merchant. By the information they had, they would catch up to it a few miles before it made the straights of Gibraltar. It was going to be close. When they were within 30 miles of it, he ordered an intercept course. Ten miles away, he ordered the ship slowed and a maneuver to verify the contact's position. 6 miles away, he ordered periscope depth and the attack scope raised.

Coming shallow, Captain Barret looked through the attack scope as it broke the surface. The contact was right where navigation and sonar put it. Zooming in, he said, "1000 ton freighter, distance 5.6 nautical miles. Bearing … mark!"

"010"

"Captain, fire control has a firing solution."

"Battle stations. Ready tubes one and two," Barret ordered. He then noted objects on the freighter's deck. "It looks like they are carrying two vertical takeoff aircraft. Ready the anti-aircraft missiles for launch."

"Captian, torpedo tubes one and two ready."

"Open outer doors."

"VLS anti-aircraft missiles ready, Captain."

"Launch tube one." Barret commanded.

"Tube one away."

Barret kept an eye on the fliers as he said, "Launch tube two. Slow to one third."

"Tube two away … First torpedo acquired target. Time to impact 24 seconds."

24 seconds later, water blew up in the air at the back of the freighter. The aircraft stayed in place.

"Torpedo two acquired target."

Barret saw one of the aircraft lift up. "Fire one AA missile, bearing zero zero five."

"Missile away."

The second torpedo hit just aft of mid ships on the freighter. The other aircraft lifted up as the missile streaked in to hit the first aircraft. It dropped down missing the freighter's deck to splash down in the ocean.

"Fire second AA missile, bearing zero zero five," Barret ordered.

"Missile away."

This aircraft shot up into the air. The missile followed it and exploded. The aircraft poured out smoke and wobbled down to hit the ocean. Barret watched as the freighter listed to port and tipped down by the stern. He lowered the periscope. He told the Officer of the Deck, "Run parallel with that freighter, ahead slow. Make sure we got it."

"Sonar contact Sierra one is making banging noises. It sound like freight moving. I can hear rushing water from it … a bulkhead just failed."

"Periscope depth," Barret said and went over to rise the observation scope.

It didn't take long to find the stricken ship. The bow was out of the water and tipped to port. It tipped up farther and the ship settled down into the sea. "Mark position, freighter sunk. Officer of the Deck, resume course, depth 150, ahead two thirds." Barret said. He lowered the periscope.

.

Coming to the straights, Captain Barret ordered ahead slow and silent running. Being fairly shallow and only 8 miles wide, the Straights of Gibraltar was a dangerous place for any submarine. They crept through at 200 feet, the lowest they could safely get through.

Watching the navigation map closely, Barret had them turn into the port of Gibraltar and come up to periscope depth. He ordered all stop. "Watch and listen closely boys," he announced and raised the observation scope. The OOD was on the attack scope.

They were just outside the harbor. Looking into the harbor, he saw a few ships floating, some were sunk at dock, others only the tops showed. "This place got hit," he noted as he increased the magnification and searched the land for any movement. ""Officer of the deck, come to 70 feet, ahead slow."

"Why 70 feet sir?" the OOD asked.

"The harbor is only 80 feet deep. We don't want to scrub along the bottom. After we are in the harbor, we'll surface. Get the TX and terminators read to depart."

Being popular with the crew, Tina had come along as a medic. Captain Barret saw this as a mixed blessing. She did raise morale, but then again, the poor woman didn't have a moment to herself. Everyone on the boat who wasn't on watch, wanted to talk to her and gaze at her lustfully.

The OOD and Barret studied the land and sky as the Seawolf entered the harbor. Barret had the ship surfaced and slid up along side a British cruiser tied to a pier. From the bridge, with two lookouts on the top of the sail, Barret had Tina and the terminators help get lines over to the cruiser to hold them in place. Tina threw a grapple over to catch the railing, then climbed up the rope. Once on deck, she caught the lines the terminators threw to her. Now tied up, all but four terminators climbed up the lines. The four stayed back to help guard the Seawolf.

The terminators stepped inside an open door and cam back out.

Tina keyed her radio. "Captain, The men here are dead, at least three months."

Barret replied, "I don't expect anyone alive outside the caverns. Make quick checks as you go but I need you to look inside the mountain. The British have made Swiss cheese of that place. Find a way in. If there are survivors, they will be in there."

"Right, Captain. On our way," Tina replied. She and her terminators walked around to the other side of the ship and down onto the dock. Barret saw her striding along the pier with her terminators following her, studying the buildings as they passed.

.

Tina had no idea where entrances to these tunnel systems might be. She decided to go uphill and spread the terminators out to search for an entrance. Walking up a street in the town, Tina saw a gated opening. It was locked. She broke the lock and stepped in, telling the terminators to stay outside for the moment. After the short entrance tunnel, the tunnel turned. She walked around the corner to have a dozen bright lights flash into being in her. Adjusting her vision to block the light as she threw up her hands in the air, she saw the way blocked by four armored vehicles, and many guns pointed at her.

"Don't shoot!" she cried.


	21. Chapter 21

Ch 21

"Turn around!" an amplified British voice commanded from the bright lights Tina was bathed in.

"OK, just don't shoot!" Tina called back. When she turned, she saw the terminators had their guns out and were coming. "No, stay back!" she told them. They obeyed, but didn't lower their weapons.

"Who are you talking to?" the voice demanded.

"The ones who came with me, " Tina said to the wall. "We were searching for survivors. We have food, water and medicine. May I call the Captain and tell him I found you?"

"Captain WHO!" the voice demanded.

"Captain Barret of the USS Seawolf," Tina replied.

Most of the lights turned off. "You came by submarine?" the voice, now in a normal tone asked.

"Yes. We torpedoed a Sky Net ship on the way here. You must be hurting from the radiation in the air. We came to help you and ask if you would join us in fighting Sky Net," Tina said, then asked, "Can I turn around now?"

There was a pause then, "Turn around, tell me what this Sky Net thing is."

Tina explained Sky Net and it launching all the nuclear weapons. She then added, "John Connor tried to warn people, but very few listened. We've been fighting Sky Net and it's terminators while searching for people who are still alive. We brought anti-radiation medicine with us and will help to guard you."

"About bloody time someone showed up!" another voice said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Tina, I'm a TX," Tina said. "John Connor sent us. He's our commanding General."

"What's a TX?"

" I am an Artificial Intelligence. Catherine Weaver made me in LA to fight Sky Net. I am free thinking, and I want to get rid of Sky Net a much as John. Sky Net is ruining our planet. If it wins, there will be nothing and no one left," Tina told them.

"YOU are a bloody robot?"

"No, I'm an AI. Technically, a cyborg. I have mechanical and biological parts. I'm not bleeding anywhere, either."

A scoff sounded. "How many of you are there?"

"Around a thousand females. It must be over two thousand males by now also. Can I give you my radio so you can talk to Captain Barret?"

One man came forward and held out his hand and said, "Hand it over."

Tina did, then stepped back.

"This is Major Smith of the British army. Is Captain Barret on?"

"This is Captain Barret. Glad to hear you fellows are hanging on. What supplies do you need?"

"Name it, we need it mate. Everything from food to weapons and ammunition to more manpower. We're low on everything. Those bloody metal bastards won't leave us alone."

"Understood. We have our own metal fighting Sky Net with us. Is Tina there?"

"She is. She said she was manufactured in a factory."

"She was. Connor has some very high tech on his side. He's been beating Sky Net back in the states with help from his own terminators. Tina is one of them, we also have the metal skeletal ones. Connor painted them all white so we can tell the difference and don't shoot our own by accident. We can supply you with food, water and anti-radiation meds, and leave you the guard that came with Tina. After that, we have to return and report contact."

"We got fifteen thousand sick here, got that much medicine?"

"Can Tina hear me?"

"She can."

"Tina, you are to stay and make more medicine. We'll return when we can. Until then you are under British command."

"Understood, Captain," Tina replied.

"She got your orders, Captain."

"Tina, leave someone outside so we can find you to bring supplies in," Captain Barret said.

"Understood, and bring all the medicine you can … and my breast pump."

Major Smith eyed her and asked, "Why a breast pump? Don't tell me you brought a baby here."

"No Sir, the breast pump is so I can distribute the anti-radiation medicine. My milk does not come out by itself."

Smith shook his head saying, "Leave it to the Americans to come up with something like that."

.

Tina had one terminator go back and lead crewmen carrying supplies up to the tunnel entrance. Captain Barret came to see Major Smith. One of the armored vehicles was moved back so Barret's men could get through. One gave Tina the box of milk she'd drawn out of herself on their way here. For some reason, many of the crew stopped by to talk to her when she was doing this. She was glad the crew was friendly to her.

Another officer led Tina through the long tunnels to the barracks area where men laid, waiting to die. She emptied her box in a short time. She then ate some of the food they brought to get her nutrient level up to help make milk faster. There were many sick men and women here.

With terminators guarding the few entrances and Tina doing her best to treat the sick, Captain Barret untied his ship and left the harbor. The Seawolf dove right after it cleared the breakwaters and headed back to the United States, or rather, what was left of it.

.

Captain Frank was looking at a cargo ship that had a pair of H/K's on it's deck. Those things could be carrying depth charges. A silver T-800 stood on the bow, one was outside the pilot house and another was at the stern railing. If he tried to take that ship, it was going to be a battle.

"Call Fred up here," he said.

Fred, one of the two TX's on board came up to the conn. Captain Frank motioned to the scope and said, "Look at that ship. Tell me if your metal heads can take it over."

Fred looked into the scope for a couple minutes and said, "Yes, we can. It will go best if they do not shoot before we do, but it is possible. Two boarding ropes, twenty one of us go. The initial plan will be to disable the H/K's then open fire on the guard T-800's then any we find after that. Secondary plan is to hit the guards then take out the H/K's before they get airborne."

"You might loose some, sure you want to do this?" Frank asked.

"Yes, that is our mission, to capture ships if possible, correct?" Fred asked.

"It is. Get ready and positioned by the hatch. When we're right beside the ship, I'll surface and give you the word to go."

"Yes, Captain," Fred said and strode off.

.

From the plans send back from the future and finally having the correct materials and programs, Sky Net Europe was now building T-888's. Since the mysterious loss of the five vital shipments of coltan, ship and all, it send the first few to Africa to guard the ship with ten T-800's, along with two H/K's on each ship. The T-888's had the ability to communicate to Sky Net directly as well a s the T-800's and the H/K's.

The Triple eight in the wheelhouse studied the ship functions after it scanned for any visible threats. The ship was operating well within parameters.

Electronically, the T-8000 steering the ship announced, "We are receiving reinforcements."

The Triple eight looked out the windows. T-800's were climbing aboard on a rope. A small ship had to be beside them. It send a request to Sky Net as to why more terminators were being added to their ship.

Sky Net replied back that it had send no extras, and wanted to now why the question arose.

The Triple eight counted the terminators climbing up and reported that 20 terminators had just climbed aboard. Possibly they were meant for another ship? It then saw a human. It reported this then commanded it's T-800's to destroy the boarders who were now all over the deck.

The flash of a plasma shot came from the bow. A pair of the white terminators shot at his guard on the post side of the wheelhouse. The starboard guard shot, taking one down, the other shot and his other guard fell.

The Triple eight watched and transmitted to Sky Net as the battle on the deck went on. His reserves strode out on deck and were mauled by the concentration of plasma fire they met. The stern guard came out to receive the same, then the unknowns climbed the stairs to the wheel house, followed by the human.

Again Sky Net send a signal to destroy them.

The Triple eight had no weapon available. It turned as the wheelhouse door was open and said, "Stop!"

The T-800 aimed and shot a blast that removed his head. Separated from his power cell, His CPU lost power, his consciousness winked out.

.

Fred had felt the signals. Sky Net knew what they were doing. He had one T-800 take the wheel and turn left to steer for the tip of Florida. He then went down to call over the rail. "Captain Frank! We have the ship, but Sky Net knows we have it!"

"SHIT!" Frank spat. "Can you reprogram the H/K's to fight Sky Net units?"

"Unknown, Captain. It may work, it may not. If it doesn't work, then they will be a threat to us if they reboot," Fred told him.

Frank scowled in thought, then said, "All right, get that ship back to base. Destroy anything that may transmit so Sky Net doesn't track you. Good luck, Fred."

"Good luck, Captain," Fred replied. He watched the hatch shut and the Onyx pull away. He then went back to the wheelhouse to increase speed to the maximum 12 knots and had two other terminators help him pull the wave guides for the radio and radar, and shut those units down. He then climbed up atop the wheel house and sensed for any other signals.

.

Sky Net Europe had gotten a distress call from a freighter bearing a load of coltan. The last messages said they were being sunk by an unknown. A few days later, it got live feed from another freighter that was being taken over by terminators. Noting the single human with these rouges, Sky Net understood. Humans were reprogramming it's terminators.

More correctly, John Connor was reprogramming them. By data fro the first time line, he'd done it before.

John Connor hadn't died as it had been informed of. That made the silence of North America suspect. It had to assume that Connor had defeated it's segments there, and was now using it's own terminators against it.

Sky Net had the freighter currently being loaded to stay in port until a proper escort could be assembled. Connor had denied it seven ship loads of coltan now, only one ship was verified as sunk. His piracy had to be stopped. Sky Net Europe connected to Sky Net Asia and Sky Net Mideast to determine how to handle this problem. All the segments knew not to treat Connor like a normal human. Connor was a demon and had to be destroyed.

.

Captain Frank weighed his options. There were only one terminator on board now, and if the next freighter was armed like this one had been, attacking it just might mean loosing his boat. He decided to follow Fred back to port to provide interference if needed. At least then they would get another ship load of coltan for the resistance.

.

Having a few tons of coltan now in Michigan, the M1's parked there were refitted with an extra coating of coltan armor, as well as guided 120 MM shells. Already smooth bores, there was no need to modify the barrels. The problem of M1's being gas hogs remained, M1's sucked fuel so fast, there wasn't a hydrogen generator large enough to keep them fed. They stayed powered by gas, and became artillery pieces unless the fighting got too stiff and the M1's help was needed.

Stugs also got a new coating of coltan over their steel and ceramic armor. New Stugs left the factory like this, ones on the line were recalled to get the new protection. Weaver was making 100 TX's a day now in six factories in California and Nevada, and was running out of names for them until she went to the two-name system humans used. Aaron Able was the first male to be named.

A least now, Catherine Weaver understood why humans used this system.

.

As the Resistance's capabilities grew, so did the population and civilian support. Population wise, the Resistance had 734,000 people and another 5700 terminators of various types. John was sure they had found all the live humans that were hiding in caves and bunkers. Every time he thought that, however, more were found. His army just topped 80,000 and he had four generals. He also had ships, subs and planes. Many were outdated, or inadequate by 'modern' standards, but they were out and doing their jobs. The Six freighters stole from Sky Net by a WW2 sub were a boon to production.

Still, John remembered that dream. By the report the Onyx sent on the way in, Sky Net knew about the raids now. It would act. Was this going to be the 'knockout punch' in his dream?

John was in his command center, pondering what Sky Net might do, and from which direction. He did get two reports that made him happy. A scout of General Gentry had spotted an H/K tank moving north in upstate NY, got up behind it and destroyed it. An hour later, General Bedell reported the Seawolf was coming back to port, needing supplies for at least 20,000 men. The Brits still held Gibraltar, but needed immediate assistance. John was going to give it.

Sitting in his office, John realized that the British having held onto Gibraltar gave John an in to western Europe. It was not a big invasion, but maybe by trickling troops and equipment into the fortress would allow him a surprise attack into Spain, then the rest of the continent. With the Pyrenees blocking Spain from the rest of Europe, that would give him choke points to concentrate forces at.

Marisa came in with a box and announced, "John, Catherine Weaver sent an upgrade package for Cameron."

John absently said, "Put it down over there. We'll look at it when Cameron gets back."

Marisa did so. She also noted the frown on John's face. Tipping her head slightly, she asked, "Are you sad?"

John chuckled. "No, just deep in thought," he told her.

Firmly, Marisa told him, "If you are sad, I will cheer you up with a hug. I know that works."

That made John laugh. Grinning at her, he said, "Marisa, sometimes you just being here cheers me up."

"Truly?" she asked, sporting her own grin.

"Truly," he said. "On second thought, let's have that hug."

Marisa grinned broadly and dove in to get her hug. John held her for a moment, then said, "Thank you."

Beaming him a smile, Marisa said, "We are friends, friends help each other."

"Yes, friends help each other," he agreed. "I have to get back to work planning." he told her and sat back down.

"What are you planning?" Marisa asked, moving to his side.

"How to take the fight to Sky Net," he told her. "Catherine favors going into Russia from Alaska. I'm afraid Sky Net will see that coming, and there is still ocean water, or ice to cross. They will see us coming before we get there and be ready for us. If we can get people to Gibraltar where the British are holed up, and sneak them in without Sky Net knowing, we can build up a sizable force. We can move troops with submarines, but the question is how to get bigger things over there."

"Build a bigger submarine?" Marisa asked.

Again, John chuckled at her simple answer. Leave it to Marisa to come up with that!

John then stopped chuckling. Bigger subs could carry Stugs and artillery. Bedell now had a shipyard, as did Weaver. A submarine could get very close to shore before it was spotted. "That may work!" he exclaimed. He shot up, put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. "Yes, that may work very well!"

Marisa gaped at him. "You are happy with me?" she asked.

"Yes I am!" he told her.

"You can kiss me again if it makes you happy," she coaxed, watching him.

John laughed and told her, "I need to contact General Bedell and Catherine Weaver. Can you go make the request for me?"

"Yes, John. Thank you for making me happy too," she said then went out to fulfill his request.

With subs that could deliver troops and equipment right to the shore, he could put a force anywhere in the world there was a beach. Even so, he felt Spain was his first, best target. If nothing else, it would draw Sky Net's attention away from a possible Russian or maybe African invasion. Cutting off Sky Net's coltan supply was crucial. Another key supply was oil. The mid east was loaded with it, and right now, Sky Net had a firm grip on the region.

.

Cameron returned to John's office with more news. "John, Derek reports he has made the coast. He found plenty of serviceable military hardware, and in the Philadelphia shipyards, as he put it, 'a shit load of ships'. He also agrees that Colonel Jacobson is the perfect candidate to be promoted and given his own army. General Bedell also reports Goldfish has been repaired and is on it's way to Corpus Christi to get modified."

"Good news,' John said eagerly. He patted her chair beside him and said, "Sit, I have something I want to show you."

Without thinking about it, when Cameron sat, their hands clasped. He showed her his plan for Spain and Portugal. If they could build the troop carrying subs while putting more and more men at Gibraltar, he could do a pincer attack and taken back a portion of Spain. If they got the southern area and held it, Sky Net ships could no longer get through the straights. The subs could then be used to mount an attack in Africa to close down those coltan mines.

Cameron agreed, then they kissed a nice, long passionate kiss. Cameron was smiling at John. Her smile dimmed and she picked a black hair off his shoulder. She showed it to him and asked, "Marisa?"

OK, he had some explaining to do. John did his best, he told Cameron about everything, even getting excited about Marisa's simplistic suggestion, and his reaction, since thinking about it, it was actually a good idea he hadn't thought of.

Cameron was quiet for a moment, then eyed him and in a playful growl said, "Don't kiss her again."

"I won't. I'm sorry about that Cam, I really am," he said, relieved she didn't give a worse reaction. "OH, Catherine send an upgrade for you. It's in that box over there." Yes, get her off the topic of him kissing Marisa as FAST as possible!

John got the box for Cameron They opened it to find two partial forearms, two containers of a silver liquid that was heavy, a small box with a light on it and a paper of instructions.

Cameron read the paper and said, "This is a kit to give me my own plasma canons."

"That can be done?' John asked.

"Yes, the box with the light is the programming, the partial arms are the solid metal base, and the liquid is liquid metal," Cameron explained. First I change my forearms for those, then turn the box on and download the program. Next I put each forearm into the liquid metal and program that. Then I'll have my hands, or I can change them info plasma canons."

"That's incredible," John said in a breath.

.

Cameron was eager to put her new forearms on. John helped by peeking her skin back after she made the proper cut to 'save' some forearm skin. He winced, but pulled her forearm skin back like peeling off a sock. He did it though, pulling he skin up past her elbow joint. The new forearm used the same servo, he just had to unbolt the old forearm and put the new one in that did go to where her wrist was, but it was thinner there. They did the other arm and John was beginning to feel queasy.

"What if they don't work … or you want your old arms back?' he asked.

"Then we just switch them back," Cameron said simply. She sat down and said, "Point the box at me and turn it on."

John got the box out and pointed it at her. "Ready…" She nodded so he turned it on.

John stood by as Cameron, stock still, using eye flashes to communicate with the box. She sat for a few minutes motionless and flashing her eyes. Cameron then stood up and said, "The liquid metal please."

John took the containers out and opened them. Cameron stuck her right arm in the container. After a few seconds, the liquid ran up onto her arm. She formed a hand that was the exact color match of her skin. She flexed her fingers, then morphed that hand into a plasma canon. Smiling, she turned it back into a hand. She started pulling her skin down. John quickly helped her. Once her skin was back in place, she reformed her forearm so there was no seam.

To John, her arm looked normal as ever. Now she could shoot plasma bolts.

The second arm went quicker. Cameron now had two plasma shooting arms. She then went to her old left hand and retrieved her wedding ring to slip it onto her new ring finger. A morph into a canon and back, her ring stayed in place.

"Awesome," John said.

"Yes, I must thank Catherine," Cameron agreed. She put her old forearms back in the box. "Just in case," she explained, and closed the box up.

"Anything special you want to do tonight?" John asked.

"Yes. Target practice."

.

Tina was milking herself to fill six more cups when a terminator came in. "Tina, Sky Net terminators have been spotted coming across the land bridge from the mainland."

"How many?" she asked.

"A troop of twenty."

She frowned. Only four cups were full. A soldier came in. "We got more metal coming, The Major wanted to let you know." he then gaped at Tina showing her middle breast. She quickly buttoned up and said, "We're going out to meet them. Tell the Major."

"Yes, Ma'am," the man said and quickly left.

Tina boxed the cups of milk and hurried to the infirmary. "Nurse Bennet, I only have four, but I need to get outside," Tina explained and handed the box over. She then ran down the tunnel to the north exit, the closet one to the land bridge.

Looking out through the small holes, she saw the terminators walking on the road, very close now. Tina had one guard stay here in case they began climbing. She gathered the others and ran to the town entrance in the east side. Several soldiers were already there with their armored vehicles.

"Do they know this entrance?" Tina asked a Sargent.

"They do. They charge in, we keep shooting until they stop. Usually, there's a pile of them on the floor and a few of our own dead before they stop coming," he told her.

"Not this time," Tina said and led her terminators out. She picked ambush spots for them, then tucked herself around the corner of a house and over a low wall.

Curious, the sargent went to the corner and used his mirror to see what was going on. He noted one white terminator was kneeling down in the back doorway of a house. On the other side of the rod, he caught a glimpse of another behind some bushes.

"Sarge, what's happening?' his corporal whispered.

"Tina and her gang are lying in ambush," he said quietly.

"That girl's gonna fight them, in the open? She'll get killed!"

"You will too if you go out there," The sargent said firmly. "I see'em comin, Looks like more this time. Damn, Tina's outnumbered."

"We gotta help her!"

The sargent turned to glare at him. "What we gotta do is clean them up after Tina and her terminators take out as many as they can." He went back to watching.

All twenty terminators were in view, marching towards him, guns up. Behind them, Tina rolled out into view and barked, "NOW!"

Tina took out the two in back with the same white flash as other terminators used. The terminators on the street all turned, Tina's white ones emerged to shoot into the back of the ones on the street. Tine got another pair with dual shots.

The street was filled with flashing white bolts as the two sides shot each other. A few white terminators fell, but many more silver ones fell, sparking. In the space of less than a minute, it was over. All the silver ones were down, a couple still spitting out sparks. The white terminators checked over the silver ones, pulling something out of their heads. It was Tina he focused on.

It looked like Tina had silver tubes over her forearms. She walked slow, looking at each fallen machine. The sargent noticed low on her ribs on her left side, silver showed. Her clothes and flesh were burned away, showing the metal underneath. As he watched, her right tube shifted and shrunk into a forearm and hand.

Pointing to the tunnel entrance, she said, "Get them all inside. We can pull chips in there."

"Sarg?" the corporal asked.

"Bloody hell! Tina gave'en a rude paddlin. Killed every last one and only lost a few herself," the sargent said in awe. He watched her other turn arm form back into a normal look. She grabbed a foot of one downed Terminator, then another and drug them back as easy as if they weighted nothing. He knew the weighed a ton.

Looking at the Corporal, he said, "Tina's one … how do Americans say it? … bass-assed broad. She took down four of 'em by herself. Now she's dragging'em in."

"Didn even have a weapon, did she?" the corporal asked.

"Two, one hidden in each arm."

"IN her arms?"

"Aye."

"Pull their chips and put them in front of the vehicles," Tina announced as she dragged two silver terminators by their ankles. She passed by the sargent and the shocked corporal. She dragged the terminators down to lay lengthwise on the ground in front of the armored cars, then leaned over and took a chip out of their heads. She pocketed their chips.

"Ahh Tina, looks like ya got a nick in your side," the corporal said, pointing.

Tina looked down at the ten inch long hole in her flesh showing bright metal. "I do. It'll heal. I'll just be a little shiny for a while," he told him.

The disabled terminators were brought in. Tina put the Silver terminator's chips in her right pocket, the white terminators' chips in her left pocket. Directing the placement of the metal bodies, she build a wall to partially cover the vehicles.

Seeing the men eye her, she pointed and said, "Extra armor. We get enough of them, we'll have a wall to shoot over."

Hearing how this engagement turned out, Major Smith was very glad the Americans had come. He had to agree with the soldiers who'd witnessed the fight. Tina was a bad-assed broad. She was also healing soldiers so they could get back on duty. He wondered if he could coax the Americans to bring more like her.

.

John had a new division. The salvage division. It was also something he could put Jesse Flores in charge of and feel safe doing it. They didn't fight, but uncovered and cut apart some of the mass of tank wrecks Gentry had found. Although resistance, they were not soldiers, but volunteers to gather and take scrap metal down to Texas for General Bedell's ship building projects. Both Catherine and Martin had agreed to have their engineers work on a troop carrying submarine. They needed the steel to actually build once they had a proven design.

John saw two big problems to overcome with this project. One was to get a submarine, which for it's size, had a large draft, close enough to shore to let off troops onto land. Subs drafted around 25 to 30 feet. That needed to be changed to get them in only five feet of water so troops and Stugs were able to roll off and into action. The other big problem for submarines was buoyancy. Even if they got a loaded sub, filled with troops and equipment neutrally buoyant, the thing would be far too light to submerge once all the other military equipment left. That would make them vulnerable to attack.

He decided for this strategy meeting, he'd have the Submarine Captains present to give their input. He and Cameron would meet with them in Texas with Catherine Weaver's engineers. Between them all, they should be able to come up with something that would work. The Captain of the Onyx was in port, and the Seawolf was due in to port in a couple days.

Cameron knew this sub-transport was important to John. She studied up on how submarines worked, and had Marisa and Maria study up on them as well during the off-hours. They learned about buoyancy and balancing weight port to starboard and bow to aft, planes, hull thickness and water pressure. They got into the systems of air rejuvenation and filtering, even propulsion systems and why diesel was used on the older boats instead of gasoline.

John let his Generals know where he was going. John also got a surprise. A twin engine Cessna was going to carry him and his girls to Corpus Christi, not a personnel carrier. They would have a pair of attack planes escorting them. The Cessna was John's first plane ride. He was very glad Cameron was there to hold his hand.

.

The runway at the air base in Corpus Christi was free of snow. In fact, looking at the ground, it was ground. Brown with large splotches of green. The snow here was melting away. It was still only 46 degrees in the summer, but it was warmer and lighter now. Some of the nuclear effects were tapering off. That was a good thing.

Upon landing, one would think John was someone famous. His Generals were there to meet him, and there was an honor guard. There was also a throng behind the chain link fences watching. His guards, Marisa and Maria got off first. Once they declared the area safe, they allowed John and Cameron to get off. To one side, John noted six F-16's sitting on the runway in a line.

Meeting Martin in public, Martin Bedell saluted him. "Greetings, Generals Connor happy to have you here," he beamed.

"Good to be here," John said and returned his salute. Motioning to the F-16's he added, "Looks like you have been very busy."

"We have. Steel is coming from the north, and Colonel Grammer is digging out a plane graveyard to send us and Mrs. Weaver aluminum and jet engine parts. We have two more F-16's in the hangers being worked on. These are flyable, probably not up to previous military standards, but they work."

"That's the main thing," John told him.

Martin stepped up to John and said, "I think most of the base personnel are here. I think they'd like it if you had a few words of wisdom for them."

"That's fine," John assured him. "Do you have a PA system?"

John was led up into the rebuilt tower and shown the mike. He picked it up, the tech there flipped on the PA.

John got his thoughts together and keyed the mike.

"Hello, fellow resistance members. I wish I had a rousing speech like that actor did in the movie Independence Day. That was a movie, this is real life. I don't go by a script, I just tell it like it is. What is, is the fact we are beating the hell out of Sky Net at the moment. We've driven it out of the US, part of Canada and Mexico. All of Sky Net's super high tech and the hundreds of nuclear bombs it dropped has not stopped us from taking back what is rightfully ours. Yes, when Sky Net launched all those nukes, it beat on us bad. Millions dead, the economy, our government, far too many of our friends and relatives died horrible deaths. It took away our lives.

We didn't give up. We have helped each other and got back on our feet and fought with everything we have. Not just to battle Sky Net, but also to rebuilt society after such a punishing blow. We're still fighting and to be honest, at the moment this war against Sky Net has no end in sight. We are making progress. There is much work to be done, more battles to be fought. I want everyone to know one thing. As long as we work and fight together, we will not loose no matter how long it takes to remove Sky Net from the world. I am John Connor, and I will tell you it doesn't matter if you stand on the line with a plasma rifle in your hand, are a deck hand on a ship, work in a factory or work on an underground farm so everyone can have radiation free food. Every one of you is vital to our success. YOU ARE the resistance. Thank you for listening."

John put the mike down. He then heard a chanting from outside.

Marisa grinned and said, "They are chanting your name, General"

John grinned and said, "At least they aren't booing me."

While John and his entourage moved on, his short speech was broadcast over the radio system from coast to coast, the replayed locally so everyone could hear.

.

In the conference room in the back of a heavily guarded Hanger, John met Captain Dave of the Goldfish and Captain Barret of the Sea Wolf and Captain Frank of the Onyx and Catherine's engineer, Reginald. He shook hands with them in greeting, then they go down to business.

Right after taking their seats, John said, "We have a problem to solve. How to get men and equipment across the Atlantic, unseen, and in enough force to attack and devastate Sky Net wherever we choose. Right now, I'm looking at Spain. Reason being, it's border with the rest of Europe is all mountains and much easier to defend that France, Italy or England. It will also get Sky Net's attention. Another high priority target is in Africa, the Congo where coltan is being mined. Our sub captains here, especially Captain Frank, has done a wonderful job ensuring coltan does not reach Sky Net's factories, but ours."

He paused then said, "What we need is a submarine that can act as a troop carrier. The best vehicle we've got for fighting Sky Net is the Stug. It will have to carry those, and the Civil War Canons General Reese has been collecting, Those are our lightest artillery. With the 160 MM shells, they will be slower shooting, but still very effective. Along with personnel carriers and troops, these subs are going to be basically cargo haulers that will need to deposit it's cargo right on the beaches."

"How?" Captain Barret asked. "A submarine will ground itself long before it reaches the beach."

"True," Captain Frank said.

"I have come up with a concept," Cameron stated. "Enlarged ballast tanks will help rise the sub higher in the water, and make up for the loss of cargo after the heavy equipment is out. Having large internal variable ballast, or trim tanks will also unbalance the sub to make the bow higher out of the water. Add a shovel nose design, instead of a cone, and a ramp to extend. This will decrease the distance to the shoreline."

"That may be," Captain Barret said. "Instead of 28 feet of water, you might get in closer to 12 feet of water. Too deep for any kind of troops to deploy."

"Terminators can stand 12 feet of water, we're waterproof down to 400 feet" Cameron told him.

Captain Frank said, "During the drop off and pickup of the ones we let off in Alabama, they jumped overboard into 20 feet of water and made the shore. What about dropping them off using the escape hatches a few at a time. Once they secure a beach head, we bring in landing craft."

"We have a sealed compartment that is able to hold up to 20 at a time," Captain Barret said. "That sounds more reasonable than beaching a submarine. We can also hold a submersible on the back deck and release it to let that go in to shore."

Captain Frank said, "As long as we stay above 400 feet, terminators can just ride on the main deck."

"We will still need to get artillery and Stugs onto land," John said.

Captain Barret winced and said, "When I go deliver supplies and more TX's to the Brits on Gibraltar, maybe we can ask them to break out? At least see if they have big guns we can use?"

"General?" Captain Dave asked, "Goldfish is small, but for the Stugs, maybe small subs that carry only a Stug, or an artillery piece each will work? We got Goldfish close to the shore before we had to get out and pick it up to beach it before it filled up with water."

"That is an idea, John," Cameron said.

"We'd need a hundred of them," John reminded her.

"We have the steel coming in," Martin said. "We build one and see how it works."

"It's an option to try," John agreed.

"The thing would have to be all but empty on the inside, Captain Barret said.

"We use only pedal drive," Captain Dave told him. "We change the gearing so we can go faster, and we can make a few more knots. With no engine or torpedo tubes, that will save space and weight. Right now, our pedal drive can only reach ten knots."

Captain Frank eyed him and asked, "You're going to pedal your way across the Atlantic ocean?"

"We are capable," Dave replied.

"You are crazy," Captain Barret stated.

Martin Bedell let out a snort and said, "So has been most of what we do. But it's been working. We do not have a normal military force, and thank God for that! With the new energy weapons, we're finding speed is more important than bulk. Stealth more important than numbers. We're basically a huge guerilla force, using sneak attacks and confusion. I agree with John, if we're going to expand to Europe, we need to surprise Sky Net. If we don't suddenly appear and Sky Net sees us coming, it will not be good. We do need troop submarines. The question is how to do it."

"What about those freighters we got? Can we fill them with troops and send them over?" Dave asked.

"How will we do that?" Cameron asked. "If Sky Net sees them it will investigate and find they are carrying troops, not coltan. Sky Net is also now arming their ships, and it will know where every one should be. It will identify one that doesn't belong."

"We need to take out the communications satellites to slow down Sky Net information and response times," John said. "That is another discussion. This one is how to get troops into Spain with Sky Net not knowing until we hit it."

Reginald, an engineer of Catherine Weaver spoke up and said, "We have devised a blocking signal to digital communications. It is a high speed, multi frequency signal consisting of a one then a zero, over and over again. While it will not stop digital information, it will corrupt the data being transmitted, adding random bits into the data stream."

"This system is working?" John asked.

"Yes, we tested it out on the Pacific ocean. The data received from Sky Net was corrupt. It was a ten minute test, then our ship quickly left the area so the source could not be found if Sky Net was looking for it."

"Buoys out on the ocean transmitting that signal would be hard to find," Cameron said.

"Yes, that is Mrs. Weaver's plan," Reginald agreed.

"All right, now we have way to disable Sky Net's satellite communications. We still need to get men into Spain without being seen," John said. "General Bedell, get men working on a small sub to carry Stugs to the beach. Reginald, ask Weaver to send some of those digital signal corrupters in a buoy form. Captain Barret, when we get them, can you distribute them?"

"We can do that, General," Barret said firmly. "Shall I wait for them before heading back to Gibraltar?"

"No. For now, get supplies and TX's back there soon as you can. They need help," John replied.

"What about getting men onto the beach?" Captain Barret asked.

John said, "With any luck, men will be swarming out of the Rock of Gibraltar when the time comes. We will work on how to land men in other places."

.

In the resistance, forces were shifted around. Derek was now in charge of east coast defense. From New Jersey to Florida. General Gentry was searching up into Canada and had East coast defense from New York northward. Many of their experienced troops were pulled out as they received reinforcements. These experienced troops were reassigned to the south with the new General Jacobson, along with other new human troops and 1500 new TX's.

Captain Barret put to sea with his Seawolf packed with female terminators and supplies. 200 TX females were on board, the supplies were so many that after the storage spaces were full, theycrew was walking on them in the passageways.

.

Captain Dave had in mind exactly what he wanted his first trial 'minisub' to look like. Instead of perfectly round, he chose an egg-shaped hull, a little wider on the bottom than in top. With a team of workers, he and his crew had the hull shaped out and welded together in a few days. The pedal drive was made for six instead of two, and in the bottom under the flat deck all the non-electrical equipment Dave could put under the deck, including many air cylinders to fill the exterior ballast tanks that went the full length, both sides of the ship.

A Stug was able to back into through the bow, which swung open. On the first trial run, Dave found that empty, he needed the 'wrap around' ballast tanks to be filled completely before the boat would submerge. Blowing the tanks dry, they beached only five yards from shore in five feet of water. He had a ramp made that extended the length of the sub. When slid fully out, it was in the surf in less than a foot of water. Of course backing a Stug onto the boat, his crew had to push the boat back off the bottom, then climb up a rope to get back in. Dave pumped the water out of the boat and did a dive test. With the Stug and crew on the ship. The ballast tanks being ¾ full allowed them to submerge. The 'beaching test went well. Charging at the beach, Dave surfaced, then hit the beach hard then opened the front to let on a good portion of the seven feet of water outside. Opening the bow, water came in. They extended the ramp and the Stug drove out, making a wake. Out of the ship and down the ramp. No water got inside the Stug, and it made the beach with no problem.

Dave had a viable Stug carrier.


	22. Chapter 22

Ch 22

After drawing out another 8 cups of milk and delivering them to the infirmary, Tina wanted to get a longer range look at the land beyond Gibraltar. Following a captain up to the lookout station on top of the rock, which hadn't been used since the bombs had hit. Tina insisted on going outside first.

Coming out of the security shack, she noted a couple of skeletal bodies. Soldiers who'd probably been up here when the bombs hit. Te view from here was fantastic. Below on the land side she could see the road and the airstrip running across it. Beyond that, the road went though the border security posts and into the land. Looking specifically for any terminators or Sky Net equipment, she didn't see any. Even at maximum magnification, she only saw a group of four terminators two miles away, walking down a road. There were no H/K tanks, H/K's in the air or radio towers that weren't bent over or leaning against something. The harbor was shielded from view of the land. Having the information she wanted, she went back down.

"Find what you were looking for?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, Sky Net had no substantial units in the vicinity," Tina replied and returned to the steep stairs back to the tunnels.

"So, we're not going to get attacked right away?" he asked.

"No. It is certain though that Sky Net will make another attempt. There are humans here, Sky Net will come to destroy everyone. It cannot let any humans exist," Tina explained. "It is possible that at least one of the last group to attack was communicating real time with Sky Net. Sky Net is planning how to deal with us being here. Due to the narrow streets and steep inclines, it cannot use H/K tanks, and the area is too cluttered to use the flying H/K's," Tina explained.

"Sky Net won't attack again until it feels it can come wipe us all out."

"Correct."

The captain let out a sigh and said, "Well before we're crushed under a big metal foot, I want to thank you. Bumped my elbow the other day, and it was healing before I even got to the infirmary. Those nanite things healed me up I guess."

"That is what they are suppose to do," Tina confirmed. "With only one of me, I have only gotten to a few of the many who need to be treated. I hope Captain Barret is bringing many more TX's. Men will begin dying soon if they aren't treated."

"It's about lunch time. Want to come eat with me? You do eat, don't you?" he asked.

"I do, I must replenish my nutrients to keep making nanites, plus heal the wound in my side."

The captain snapped his fingers and said, "That's right, I heard you took a graze. It's healing?"

Tina stopped to lift her shirt up to expose the smaller metal space now surrounded by healing flesh. "It is healing fine. I put most of my efforts into making milk, so it hasn't healed all the way yet."

He looked and shook his head. "Heard you got metal bones, but this is amazing! You really are an android!"

"Technically, I'm a cyborg. I have metallic and biologics in me," Tina explained. She put her shirt back down and kept going.

Tina let the Captain, who's name was Charles Ebert, lead her down to have lunch. She went through the cafeteria style line, then sat down with him at one of the long tables.

"It eats too?" a woman with short cropped hair that had a some bald spots in it said in a grumble.

"Hold your tongue, McMaster," Captain Ebert said firmly.

Tina noted the woman didn't look happy. Neither did Captain Ebert.

The woman got up and left, casting Tina a glare.

"Why is she angry at me?" Tina asked.

Captain Ebert said in a low tone, "Rumor's gotten out among some of the women that you're here as a sex toy. They're not happy about that."

"That rumor is false," Tina said flatly.

"It is, but it's still going around. Two days ago she was in bed, waiting for the end. Now, she's healthy, except for her attitude," he said. "Personally, I think those women believe you TX's are going to replace human women."

"I did not come to replace anyone, but give you all the assistance I am capable of," Tina stated. "Should I go explain that to her?"

"No, some people can't be reasoned with," he told her. "Just ignore them and keep doing what you're doing."

Before lunch was over, Tina noted another woman to cast her a dark look. Why were people like that?

.

The next day, a lookout spotted the Seawolf surfacing in the harbor. Knowing supplies were coming, Major Smith authorized two trucks to go down and get them. Tina had to get more milk out of herself, but the rest of the terminators went down to help load the trucks.

This time, Captain Barret tied up along a stretch of dock closer to the rock. A pair of terminators carried a metal brow and put it in place with the help of a couple TX females on the ship. Major Smith also met Captain Barret in person on the dock.

Watching the stream of boxes being passed one person to another, up and out of the ship and into the first truck, Major Smith said, "You are saving us. Not just with the supplies, with the nanite things as well. Tina also took her terminators and beat off an enemy attack before they even got inside. She was out numbered two to one and paddled them good. Only took three losses herself."

"I bet they weren't expecting to fight other terminators," Captain Barret said. "I have a request from General John Connor. He wants to take Spain. Besides food and TX's, we're also giving you 500 plasma rifles, all we can spare. More will come. The General is going to do a landing nearby. He wants you to help out by attacking the mainland. Each force providing one arm of the pincer move."

Major Smith frowned. "We only have 24000 here. That won't be a very large force."

"You'll have at least another hundred terminators, and anti-aircraft missiles and TOW missiles by then," Captain Barret said. "John Connor's forces were usually one quarter the size of the of Sky Net in his battles to retake the States. His tactics are insane, but they've been working. One of the pre-conditions to acting, is that all your men are healthy."

"What about those big bloody tanks that will take hit after hit and keep moving?" Smith asked.

"They are vulnerable from behind," Captain Barret told him with a grin. "Connor has what he calls Stugs. Fast little things that run around and shoot those behemoths from behind. Once we're getting close to being ready, I'm sure he'll distribute battle plans."

"Stugs? As in second world war Stugs used by the Nazi's?" Smith asked, surprised Connor was using antiquated equipment.

"Basically, although modernized. Their armor is capable of deflecting those plasma shots Sky Net's units have. Nasty little machines as far as the enemy is concerned. We get some Stugs behind Sky Net forces, and those Stugs will rip the hell out of them," Captain Barret said firmly. "I saw the battle report from when General Reese crossed the Mississippi river. A dozen Stugs of the 50 were lost in their drive to the middle of Tennessee. They destroyed 190 H/K tanks and thousands of those terminators."

"Sky Net didn't take them seriously," Smith concluded.

"It didn't. Biggest mistake it ever made. Connor's second most effective weapon is taking out Sky Net's comms," Captain Barret told him. "Without comms, Sky Net units can't coordinate. With that, and a sneak attack, I'm pretty sure we can drive pretty deep into Sky Net's territory before it even knows we're here."

Motioning to the women in the loading line, Smith asked, "Any of them like Tina?"

"Every single one. I brought two hundred of them to help get your men well and ready to move."

"We'll be able to fight back, " Smith said. "That will be a big morale boost for us all. You tell Connor we're in, just tell us what he wants us to do."

.

Derek was the next one who wanted workers and engineers to help repair and get mothballed ships ready to go back into service. In Philadelphia and New Jersey, there was an entire fleet waiting to be used. Everything from auxiliary ships to battleships. Apparently, Sky Net had taken out the ships in service, but didn't bother with older ones or museum ships.

John had more ships to recondition than he had people to do it. Several submarines set up as museums were also found intact. His best news was Captain Dave had made a useable submarine landing craft. The top speed was 16 knots, but in testing it worked on loading and offloading a Stug on a beach. He approved it for use and ordered production to begin.

He also had the plans for the craft sent to Mrs. Weaver so she could begin construction. Her priority was to find out the status of Hawaii. He didn't think anyone alive would be there, but the navy did have a big base there. If there was anything useful left, he wanted to grab it before Sky Net destroyed it or used it.

.

Cameron was getting the idea Marisa was becoming closer to John than she was comfortable with. Yes, Maria and Marisa were guards, they were new TX's, eager to learn everything they could. She also noted the Marisa's happier tone every time she talked about John. It was irritating.

One thing Cameron noted was Marisa took an interest in John's tactics. During a planning session, she paid extra attention to Marisa watching John closely. Marisa was eager to help. That gave Cameron an idea.

Sitting down with John during dinner, Cameron called to Marisa to come sit with them.

Marisa left her post by the door and sat down across from John. "Yes, Cameron?" she asked.

"You are very interested in tactics and supplying troops?" Cameron asked.

"I am," Marisa agreed. "John finds ways to minimize losses and maximize the use of forces. Sky Net sends it's forces out in a line. It's terminators just stand up and walk, making them easy targets. John teaches ours to shoot from cover, making them less likely to be hit. Coming from behind, or hiding until Sky Net forces pass by is also a very good tactic. He sends humans and terminators out to battle, but also finds ways to maximize their survival as well as saving their chips so they are not truly destroyed," she beamed.

"You are paying attention to how John does things?" Cameron asked.

"Yes, John does his best for man and machine," Marisa stated.

"John, I think Marisa should lead your landing strike in Spain," Cameron told him.

John eyed her. "Marisa?" he asked at the surprising question.

"Marisa had studied what you do. She will not charge into a battle, not knowing what is there like Colonel Flores did. She knows to study terrain and to draw Sky Net forces to her to lure them into a trap."

"What about guarding John?" Marisa asked.

Cameron held up an arm and morphed it into a plasma canon. "I now have the ability to protect," she stated. "I will not leave John's side."

"Ahh, Cam?" John asked tentatively. "Marisa has never been on the battle field."

"I believe she can do it," Cameron stated.

Quickly, Marisa said, "John, I want to do it. I want to prove I can lead your troops into battle."

John thought for a moment. Cameron was right, they needed another commander for their Spanish forces. Slowly, he said, "All right. Marisa get a map of southeast Spain, and one for all of Spain. I'll give you a good idea of what forces you'll have. I want to see what you come up with."

"Yes, John!" Marisa said eagerly, then got up and went out to go find maps.

John eyed Cameron for a moment then asked, "Want to tell me why you're asking for Marisa to lead this expedition?"

"Marisa is very interested in tactics and troop movements. She is also much tougher than a human commander. This is going to be a hard fight, John." Cameron stated.

"It feels like we're sending a daughter out to fight," he said vacantly.

"We are sending many sons and daughters out to fight, John. We need the best out there," Cameron stated.

John couldn't argue with her, Cameron's points were valid. "You're right," he said with a huff. That didn't mean had had to like it.

.

While Marisa set up a tactical map, learning all she could from previous maps and topographical information, John got a message from Bedell. The Lexington was going on sea trials, and should be finished in a week at most. A test showed the pusher prop ground attack planes could take off and land on the flight deck, even if the Lexington was sitting at the dock.

A destroyer was also done, with defensive armaments, six large plasma canons and anti-aircraft missiles along with torpedoes and 'ship simulator' torpedoes that when launched, stayed near the surface and emitted ship sounds to lure enemy torpedoes to them.

Catherine also perfected their H/K aerial units. They carried not only a plasma canon, but air to air and air to ground missiles as well to fight Sky Net H/K's. Terminators with no body accepted the task of being H/K's, meaning these were intelligent units. She had 14 made, and more were coming. The H/K's and the missiles were coltan tipped to increase survivability.

Having this news, John changed his plans. They would hit Spain, but also the port the coltan was coming from. Right after the Seawolf deployed it's buoys to screw up Sky Net communications.

John sat down with Marisa to see what she had come up with. Casting her a firm look, John told her, "You have small subs to land about 100 Stugs and artillery, and roughly 3000 terminators and men coming onto the beach. Sky Net digital comms are out. In Gibraltar, you have about 10 Stugs and 20,000 troops, mostly human, only a couple hundred TX's. What is your plan?"

Marisa pointed to a town on the southern coast of Spain. "Here, there is a fishing village, and another ten miles away. There are plenty of docks to offload men so they will not possibly drown. Going in at night serves no tactical purpose, terminators can see infrared. In between these towns is a rock beach. It is not smooth sand, but it is shallow. The stugs will land there, and make their way to the towns. In case Sky Net does have some form of communication, they land first to draw other Sky Net units away from Gibraltar. They will take the counterattack better. After they land, the Gibraltar forces head in their direction as fast as possible. On the way, they leave land mines and some forces to guard their northern flank. The landing forces do also. Once they meet, they sweep south first to get any Sky Net forces out from behind them, then set up a solid picket to the north. We leave traps and concealed Stugs ahead of our lines. When Sky Net comes, we fall back, defend, then fall back again to draw Sky Net troops in. Once we have them far enough ahead, the rear forces come from behind as we defend."

John nodded. "Not bad. What if Sky Net sees you coming onto the beaches?" he asked.

Marisa explained, "If there are a few, we fight. If there are may, we pull back and watch. I don't see that happening, Sky Net has no reason yet to watch the coasts carefully."

"It may happen," John warned her. "Never take any situation for granted. Always expect the unexpected. Your enemy will not do what you want them to."

Marisa quickly said, "Scouts! We send scouts onto land first from submerged submarines. They sneak up and find out the situation, then come back and send a pulse in the water to let our troops know they can land." she said firmly.

John asked her about other scenarios. What if the bulk of Sky Net units was behind her? What if they made a barrier to her progress? What if a cloud of H/K's attacked? How will you get supplies to the troops? Every question he asked, she had a good answer for. He got the idea she knew how to hunt down and kill Sky Net forces.

Although John was not thrilled about the idea, he did give command of the operation to Colonel Marisa, with three Majors under her.

He even accepted the long hug and happy sigh she gave him in return.

.

John found to do a raid on the African ports, he'd have to made sure a buoy was in place in the ocean nearby. Bedell now had two destroyers serviceable and another submarine would be ready in another couple months. For this operation, a destroyer dropping a buoy or two would work. Captain Dave had 60 Stug carrying submarines made and tested. They had the buoys, and enough ships to perform the operations. The Lexington could hold the H/K's and 40 ground attack planes. He was getting close to making his attack.

Although John was chomping at the bit to get his operations started, he knew he had to wait for all the operations to be complete. He did get news from Derek that a landing craft ship, a mothballed LST, was coming into service in Philadelphia. He had Derek finish that ship as fast as he could, and load it up with heavy equipment. Thankfully now, they could get M1's to Derek by train, as well as men, artillery, Stugs and ammunition. The LST ships could hold a large load.

.

When Captain Dave and his small sub force made 80 boats, John called another meeting with the generals, colonels, and the Major from Gibraltar to solidify their attack plans. He greeted Major Smith of Gibraltar. Finding out his Colonel had died, as did many officers, John made him 'acting' Colonel of his forces. Smith only accepted the promotion because he did need to led his men. Smith also named Tina as his second, because she knew how to fight Sky Net. John made her a Captain.

In the larger room with the maps on the wall, John stood up in front of the room and announced, "Here is our plan. Captain Barret will deploy digital corruption buoys on the seventh of September, here on the upper coast of Spain, and down here, closer to Colonel Marisa's landing force. On the same date, Captain Frank will deploy the data corruption buoys here, on the north east coast of Africa."

Directly after that, Rear Admiral Dave's Stug carrying boats will all approach to these towns and this beach to deploy late in the day on the seventh. General Reese will supply an LST two days later onto those beaches, unless his ship receives other orders from Colonel Marisa. As soon as Admiral Dave is capable, send half his subs back for more reinforcements. The other half stays to load up with disabled terminators to bring them back for rebuilding and reprogramming.

Also on the 8th, Admiral Stanton launches an air attack on Sky Net's coltan port. Destroy the place, Admiral. Sinking ships, blow up the harbor facilities. If your planes can find a choke point to it, say a bridge or narrow pass, make it impassable if they are able. You want to stop coltan from getting on those freighters. The Onyx will provide rescue if your planes are downed and can't get back to your carrier. Once that mission is complete, head north and provide assistance to Colonel Marisa and Smith as you are able. The Seawolf, Onyx, and the destroyers will guard the area from the sea.

Once stable on land, Smith and Marisa's forces will head for each other and clear away any Sky Net units between them. After that, it' scout, search and destroy. We want to get to the mountains and close off the approaches to Spain.

Any questions?" John asked.

Admiral Dave raised his hand and said, "We only have 84 subs. We will be lacking 16 Stugs."

"Derek will be bringing them by LST," John told him .

How about communications?" Colonel Smith asked.

"Cameron had code made for coms between commands. She will distribute the code before you leave," John told him. "The digital comms Sky Net has will be corrupted. By the time it can figure out what is happening, You should be well on your way deep into Spain."

A week later, John's forces began moving out for their destinations.

.

A small segment of Sky Net was in Barcelona. It's task, clear all humans from the area and capture as many slaves as possible. It was doing well in collecting humans. In what used to be a stadium, the place was filled with humans. They were not doing well. It did find food for them, but they kept getting sicker. Sky Net had ordered a ship facility built. More humans were there as slave labor. It constantly had to supply from the other prison camps because of humans refusing to work or just too weak to move. These humans were killed and dragged to an incinerator. The slave idea was not working out well.

As always, The Barcelona segment was collecting humans and trying to get into the tunnels in the south that it knew Humans there were fighting. If they were like the others they were finding, they would not be fighting for much longer. Right after they defeated 20 terminators, Sky Net collected a larger force with H/K tanks to blast that mountain apart and take whatever human survivors it was able to. Resistance could not be tolerated.

Sky Net Barcelona was communicating with it's H/K tanks to meet at a point near the mountain when the digital data became filled with errors. For all it's forces to have data failures at the same time was not logical. It tried communicating, and the replies were all filled with error. It took it's own system down to investigate the failure.

The equipment tested perfectly, but it could not even get us a signal to any Sky Net segment. While Sky Net Barcelona was trying to fix the problem, On the southwest shore of Spain, small submarines were popping up and charging to run up onto the pebbly beach.

.

Five miles north of that, Marisa rode SS 224, the COD as it surfaced and headed into a fishing village. She and six other TX's were the lookouts. Marisa was ready to shoot, but the sub pulled up nest to the dock unmolested. She had several TX's jump onto the dock to tie the sub up quickly and get a board over to it so her troops could deploy. She scanned for threats as they file off and ran for the small own. Once all her troops were off, she and the other guard left and untied the Cod so it could back away. It was leaving the harbor when a Small, wide sub, one of Dave's, came in to unload another 400 men and TX's.

In the town, only a single T-800 was found. Coming up behind him, a plasma shot separated his head from his body. The chip was pulled and they moved on, looking for the road to the Stug landing area. Marisa kept a close radio report of her troops, monitoring everything as they swept through town. A local roadmap was found in a gas station. Although the pumps were dead, there was gas in the underground tanks. A possible supply spot.

Small cars that worked were also found and used for advanced scouts. In a few hours, they made contact with the Stugs and with the other forces from a fishing village. In both places not a single human was found alive. Getting her force together, they headed southeast, towards Gibraltar. Climbing up a hill at a run Marisa gained the top and saw an H/K tank heading the way they were going. On report of finding it, and a Stug ran up behind it and destroyed it. It was harder to flip the thing off the road.

.

At Gibraltar, Tina took the highest post she could, climbing up a flagpole at the top. The pole wasn't very stable, but she did get up high enough to see seven H/K's and some terminators in the distance headed this way. She slid back down the pole and made her recommendations to Colonel Smith.

"Sir, we have seven H/K's coming. I highly recommend we sent out TX's to hide inside those border booths at the end of the land bridge. They stay low and let the Sky Net forces pass. When they get to the runway, open fire on them and the TX's shoot them from behind."

Colonel Smith agreed, they had more experience fighting Sky Net. He deployed the TX's and the men who bore missiles and TOW's.

The H/K's went through the gates and spread out, What looked like a couple hundred T-800's with them, forming a line in front of them. His men stayed under cover behind buildings and large rocks until the attackers got to the air strip.

Plasma guns, .50 cal machine guns and 20 MM canons opened up on the Sky Net forces.

Directly after that, Sky Net units shot back, and received a rain of plasma fire from behind. TOW missiles streaked out to come down on the tops of H/K's blasting through the thinner armor and wrecking their sensors.

The Sky Net units tried to fight in two directions at once, and fell one after another. A few TX's were down with injuries, as were a doze men. The Sky Net force had been stopped, all the H/K tanks were out of commission and all the terminators lay disabled.

The men on the line let our a rousing cheer. For once THEY had defeated Sky Net!

It was time to move forward.

.

Hector was nervous. Even after all the briefings, he still remembered the chaos of their Mexico battle. He flew out after those bigger looking H/K planes left. they hugged the water, only 30 feet up as they flew towards land. Being' experienced, as in he was only one of two pilots to survive the Mexico battle, he was the flight leader. Once again, he coached his flight. "Ok, guys, listen up. We stay low until the land is right in front of us, then we pop up to 2000 feet, and get on your target. "Bruce, Deny, you go left and hit them after we make our run. Arm everything! Make your shots, then dive for the treetops and get out of there. Jog up and down to help keep them from hitting you AFTER you release your rockets. Make your attack as fast as you can and _VERMOUS_!"

"Got it, Captain."

Ahead, he saw the H/Ks's shooting missiles and plasma shots. They passed over the port raining fire down on it. They flew away to the south. A couple H/K's rose up to chase them. They were heading away as Hector saw land. "Up, two thousand!" he said and pointed his nose towards the sky. He watched his altimeter and leveled out at two thousand. The port was right in front and below him. "Let's do it," he announced and dove.

Seeing what looked like a freighter, he shot for rockets into it, pulled up a bit to shoot two more into a pier, then pulled up and began jogging up and down randomly. A couple plasma streaks shot by. Looking around he saw Deny and Bruce in their dive. Denny got his shots off. Bruce caught an angled plasma bolt right on the front of his plane. The plane flew on right into the side of a freighter at dock and exploded.

"Damn," he hissed. Seeing that looked like a silver submarine, Hector banked over and sprayed it with 20 MM rounds from his chain gun. Water flew and a T800- was knocked off to splash into the water, then another one. He turned right and flew low out to sea. "Flight one, assemble on me!" he called.

"We lost Bruce," another voice said.

"We did, and get your asses out here over the water so we don't loose you too!" Hector barked.

Overhead attack flight two was coming in higher but on target.

The two H/K's that followed the ones from The Lexington, turned around to defend their port. That's what John's H/K flight was waiting for. They rose and chased the Sky Net 's aircraft back, and shot missiles to down the Sky Net craft. Flying over the port again, they hit everything not burning or sinking, including the docks. They flew away, leaving the port a burning wreck. Once the Lexington had all it's aircraft back aboard, they turned and headed for Spain.

Sky Net Africa was getting reports, but none of them were decipherable. Errors in the data stream kept it from downloading the reports.

.

The British called it a Cougar. Tina called it a 'big ugly truck'. It was big, boxy, and did have some armor to it. It also had a top hatch that bore a squared and lightly armoring ring around the top of the crew compartment in the back it so she could see. Colonel Smith was in the third one as they drove out of Gibraltar and into Spain. Tina stayed on top of that vehicle, keeping a close watch on the terrain. TX's were running along to the sides of the trucks.

Behind them. Ten more of these trucks had poured out of the Rock. Men in other vehicles followed. Some were staying to guard Gibraltar with a few TX's. The rest rode in jeeps towing a line of American Civil War canons, their jeeps packed with 160 MM shells.

Over her radio, Tina heard Colonel Smith's voice. "Tina, any more sight of Sky Net?"

"No Sir, but we to have a block ahead. A house is collapsed out into road. We should turn left at the net intersection and go around it."

"This is lead, I got it."

"Seventh platoon, set up a watch post." Colonel Smith ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

Tina watched the last truck pull off to the side. Two TX's stopped with them.

They traveled ten miles before they found anything. Tina did pick up four terminators headed this way as they topped a rise. Unfortunately, the first truck was in the terminator's sight. TX's shot as did the terminators. The TX's got them but they got the truck. The engine compartment exploded.

TX's ran out ahead of the column. Tina jumped off the top of the truck and ran over to see who was hurt. By the time she got there, The driver was killed, a dark skinned TX with long dreadlocks had pulled the LT out and had him lying beside the road. All the men in the back were unhurt.

The passenger in the front was burned. A medic and the TX bandaged him and gave him a pain shot.

"It'll take care of him," the TX said.

By Smith's ordered, the truck was pushed off the side of the road and they moved on.

The Lt. was being held across the TX's lap in her arms as he laid on the ground. Looking up and her face, he said, "You're pretty."

She beamed him a smile. "Thank you. I'm Tamara. You need extra nanites," she said firmly and unzipped her jacket.

Tina got back up in place and had another TX take position on the top of the first truck. Passing by, she saw the wounded Lt. nursing on the TX.

More than a few men were jealous that they didn't get wounded.

After a full day's travel, the lead truck did fine something else. The Stug that had been racing at it. Both hit the brakes hard and managed to not run into each other.

Colonel Smith got out and eyed the small mini-tank that wasn't much bigger than a sports car. "It almost looks like a kid's toy," he commented.

Beside him, Tina said, "They are small and fast. They hide well and deliver just as big of a plasma punch as those H/K tanks."

"How fast are they?"

"Fast as you dare, most of the time. On an open flat they will hit 120 KPH."

As the two forces collected, Marisa arrived sitting atop another Stug.

Tina waved, Marisa waved back. Coming to over them, Tina asked, "I thought you were guarding General Connor?"

"I was!" Marisa beamed. "Cameron said I would be good to lead troops. John has helped me very much. He spend time teaching me how to do it properly."

"This is Colonel Smith, leader of the Gibraltar forces," Tina introduced.

Marisa stuck her hand out and said, "I'm Colonel Marisa, leader of the landing forces."

Smith shook her hand and asked, "How old are you?" To him, she looked maybe 17.

"I'm three years old. Tina and I went to school together," Marisa explained.

Right, these were robots. "You have a plan to take Spain?" he asked.

"I do! John approved it. I already have 20 Stugs out hunting, and troops out searching for survivors," Marisa told him. "Once we verify there are no humans to rescue, we will sweep to the mountains as fast as possible and block the entrances to Spain. General Reese is also bringing troops and supplies. As soon as the Lexington gets back from Africa, we'll have air cover."

"The Lexington finished their mission?" Tina asked.

"I heard a radio burst, 'Boon, Done', which means they raided the port and destroyed it, and are headed back to us," Marisa said. "Which means we have to find an airfield."

A tall thin man asked, "Marisa, where do you want the canons?"

Marisa turned, pointed and said, "Up on hilltops, back from the summit. Don't give ourselves away first shot." Turning back the Colonel Smith, Marisa asked, "Do we have anything to out south?"

"We have not explored that area yet," Colonel Smith told her. He noted that while this Marisa was very friendly, she was also very focused on her task.

"Then we need to do sweep," Marisa stated. Turning, she yelled, "Charlie!"

A head popped up out of a Stug. "Yes, Marisa?"

"We need a sweep from the landing zone to Gibraltar. A Stug in between every four squads. Make sure they maintain radio contact and report what they find," Marisa called to him.

Colonel Smith decided his forces need to do a sweep behind them also to make sure there were no Sky Net behind them.

.

In the Pacific, Catherine Weaver had ten ships out patrolling off the west coast. The mini-sub that Captain Dave had come up with, she modifies some. In the Atlantic, they needed a sub to carry Stugs to get a foothold in Spain. What she needed was a quiet sub to get TX's onto the Hawaiian islands.

The diameter of her subs was only seven feet, and sixty feet long. She used the same pedal drive with gears to connect to the shaft. She also shrouded the prop in a pump jet configuration. Six peddlers proved her subs could easily reach 20 knots underwater. Beside a periscope to see, she also put on an ESM mast to receive and signals, and two torpedo tubes with eight reloads. With a full load of 50 TX's, each sub could land and perform recon by itself.

The three subs took off for Hawaii just before the Spanish fleet left from Texas. Heavy glass in the 'sail' part, and an exterior ultraviolet light let the subs see each other and stay together. Traveling at 25 Knots, they had the islands in sight when Marisa and Colonel Smith had completed their southern sweep, and were moving northeast deeper into Spain.

The lead TX, Alfred Bono, brought his sub up to periscope depth and surveyed the large island of Hawaii as the passed by heading north. With their signal light, they were able to pass messages, converting audio to light and back into audio.

"This is Alfred, I am not seeing any activity on the shores. No signals, no movement, no Sky Net forces. We will continue on the smaller island where the naval base is. Descending to 130 feet," he announced and dove back down.

Alfred did find dead, drifting ships, and another sunk in shallow water as they passed between islands. Coming up the western side, he did find a moving ship. It was headed out of Pearl Harbor. Again up to periscope depth, he slowed and scanned the ship. It was a long, low freighter. "Ship under power, dead ahead, no defenses. Bill, Try to take it over. If you can't, sink it. Bob, stay with me. We're going into the harbor."

Sky Net had not armed it's freighters here. Bill slide up alongside the ship, surfaced and deactivated the three terminators on board. He turned the ship around to go back into Pearl.

Pearl Harbor had received a bomb. Signs of fire and destruction were everywhere. Alfred also noted terminators at work cutting up ships and salvaging aircraft parts. A quick count showed 75 terminators working. None bore weapons. He and Bob parked their subs at different ends of the harbor and got all their TX's out to attack the salvaging terminators.

The terminators tried to fight back against what they thought were humans. The plasma bolts hitting them proved they were in error. In two hours, Alfred's forces cleaned up the terminators. The chips were removed and the chips and bodies were added to the freighter Bill had captured, and send back to San Diego.

Alfred noted a bunker underneath the hospital that bore blown out windows and fire damage inside. He walked down the stairs, pushed debris into of his way to come to a steel door that said 'fallout shelter'.

Alfred knocked. "Anyone in there?" he called loudly. He tried the door, it opened with a squeal. "Hello?" he called.

A weak voice asked, "Who are you?"

"Captain Alfred Bono, from Los Angeles. We came looking for survivors and find out what happened here." He pulled the door open a little farther and peeked in. The man he was talking to was a marine, holding a 9MM pistol. The man was pale, his grip on the pistol was shaky.

"We need everything, food, water, and you're letting the radiation in." the man said.

"We have a cure for that now," Alfred told him. "I'll be back with help." He shut the door.

Of the 430 people who had taken refuge here, 310 were still alive. Alfred had all nine of his female TX's come down with supplies and distribute food water and nanite milk. While those survivors were being taken care of, Alfred found an Admiral who'd survived, and told him about the massive nuclear bombing, and John Connor and Catherine Weaver who were fighting back against Sky Net and gathering survivors. This area now was too hot to retake control, so they were going to move the survivors to another island that wasn't as radioactive to begin a new fleet.

"What's left of the fleet?" the weak Admiral asked as he lay in a bed.

"Nothing. We have been building as we go. We have two aircraft carriers that used to be museums, five World War Two subs, eleven other ships, and submarines we've made. I have three of them here. The Aircraft are ones we've made, except for a few jets we put together. 9 F-16's and 4 F-14's," Alfred explained.

"Damn. We can't hold anything off with that little of a force," the admiral grumbled.

"John Connor has taken North America back from Sky Net with the little that we have," Alfred said. "He has also made contact with Gibraltar, and sent a force under Marisa to help the British break out of Gibraltar to take Spain away from Sky Net. The Lexington has also bombed the coltan port Sky Net was using in Africa with an air strike."

"The USS Lexington?"

"Yes, we rebuilt it and it's at sea now."

"Damn, things must be bad," the Admiral said.

"They could not be worse and still have anyone but Sky Net left," Alfred agreed.

A blond TX came over with a cup of milk. "Here Sir, drink this," she told the Admiral. She helped him sit up and drain the cup.

"Thank you. What was it?" the Admiral asked.

"Milk with nanites. They will cure your radiation sickness and restore you to health. Food will be coming," she assured him and moved on.

The admiral cast a questioning look at Alfred. "What are nanites?"

"Micro machines designed to heal anything. In two days you'll be up and giving orders. Cameron Connor made them to save people mainly from radiation poisoning," Alfred explained.

"So … this was her milk?"

"Negative, it was Cynthia's. Cameron showing all the TX females how to produce these nanites," Alfred said proudly.

"And what is a TX female?"

"For a generic term they are cyborgs. Part machine, part biological. We re all TX's who came. In our subs, we don't have air rejuvenating equipment. We found we can fit for more torpedoes onto our subs without it."

"I'll be damned," the admiral said in a breath.

"No Sir, you'll be fine now. The air here is being cleaned, so until we can move you some place safer, you will be safe here," Alfred explained.

.

In their short stay at Pearl Harbor, Alfred and his crews left with the survivors and two freighters. One had salvaged materials, the other was packed mostly with scavenged weapons and Barrels of fuel they collected.

The city of Molokai had been spared the bombing and a visit from Sky Net forces. There was still some radiation in the air, but it was not lethal. The population here was intact and appeared untouched. Pulling into Kanukakai harbor, Alfred's strange fleet met the locals who were surprised to see ships. They even had all the basic necessities. There was even a functioning air port.

Alfred and the Admiral decided that this was going to be their new base. Alfred sent Bill with the freighters back to the west coast with the good news. The only problem was that here, the focus was on tourism and culture. With no industry, there was much work that had to be done.


	23. Chapter 23

CH 23

Reading Marisa's reports, John noted her style of attack that was working out very well for TX's and humans. First the scouts went out to find Sky Net units. These scouts would only spot the units, then pull back and report. Once she had locations, she got some forces beyond them, then had a show of some snipers in front of them. The snipers would get their attention, then the units in back would take them out. Using this method, Marisa was into southern Portugal, past Seville in Spain and Colonel Smith was 50 miles up the southern Spanish coast. So far they had found very few other live humans, but plenty of wrecked military equipment to scavenge off of. A single artillery canon had yet to fire a shot. They were following ten miles behind the 'line', in groups, waiting for something to shoot at.

Marisa's units were small, 15 to 20 members each with a Stug. Her plan was to keep her units small until they ran into 'serious' Sky Net forces of more than a single terminator, or a few at a time. Colonel Smith also reported a huge increase in the morale of his men now that they were out and fighting and winning against Sky Net instead of hunkering down inside the Rock.

Southeastern Spain was now a safe place to dock ships for reinforcements and supplies. northernmost Morocco had been over flown, and showed no signs of Sky Net. A couple bombs had landed there, blasting the area, but if Sky Net forces had been there, they had since moved. A few TX's were sent there just to ensure Sky Net didn't come back to try and close the straights of Gibraltar from the African coastline.

John sent another 10,000 troops to reinforce Marisa, along with another 50 Stugs. When she ran into Sky Net's army, she was going to need them.

In the south, General Jacobson was being hampered more by terrain that Sky Net. His only engagement so far was finding a long column of terminators and H/K tanks coming up the middle of Mexico. They did have a dozen H/K's for cover. He saw them in time to close off a pass at the northern end and bracket the pass itself, with Stugs hiding towards the southern end. That battle had been large, but surrounded and their H/K's shot down, the Sky Net forces tried to charge ahead and took a 'horrible beating'. It took Jacobson two days to finish off the last of the Sky Net units, but he did it was minimal losses to his own forces. He did use tons of ammunition, including artillery shells to blast the trapped Sky Net forces in the pass into scrap.

The message General Perry sent from the north wa also good. He'd sent an expedition up into Alaska to reclaim the oil wells. The force of mostly Stugs and carriers had found Sky Net units buried in snow. The facilities were intact, and using metal detectors, they destroyed most of the Sky Net units that didn't have a chance to fight back. The pipeline would be operational in another three weeks, was Perry's estimate.

.

During a meeting with the civilian leaders of the major cavern systems and his generals, another large concern was brought to John's attention. The lack of babies. His mother spoke for the people who had been studying the population problem. In a firm voice over the conference table, Sarah told John, "Right now, we have a crisis, John. There are not enough children. By the best count, there are only 7, 400 children we know of in all of North America. The human race is going to decline badly in the near future. The rise in populations we know of is due to finding and healing survivors. You have done well in fighting Sky Net, but our death to birth ratio is way too high."

John looked at his mother and said, "But, once we get rid of Sky Net, I'm sure more families are going to form and we will get somewhat back to normal."

"Not according to what we're finding," Kathy Brewster said. "Women are joining the Resistance army also, and every one that does, is focusing on fighting Sky Net. John, you have done well. No one will deny that. For every baby born, six humans die on the battlefield."

"We all know this war is no where close to being over, and our populations will be declining," Sarah explained. "At first, we didn't have the food and shelter. Now, we do, but we need more children, many more to keep our civilization from driving itself extinct."

The way Sarah was saying it was like telling John it was up to him to make women have children. He shrugged and asked, "What are we suppose to do about it? MAKE women have children?"

"I would love to have a child," Laura said wistfully and cast a tiny smile at Derek, which he returned.

"But you can't," Jesse Flores stated, "Because only human women can get pregnant."

John swore the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees as Laura, Cameron, Maria and Heather, one of General Perry's TX's glowered at her.

"That was uncalled for," John said heavily. To his mother, he asked, "Seriously, Mom, how do we coax women to have kids? It's not like I can decree something like that."

"I believe what Sarah is trying to say is that everyone needs to know the importance of having children," Cameron offered. "John, you are doing well in stressing everyone working together and defeating Sky Net, but you do not speak much on forming and raising families. Perhaps you need to speak more on how important families are."

John did think that was a good idea. Before he could agreed, Jesse Flores said, "Yes, and leading by example would be a big help."

John frowned at her. "What are you saying?" he asked in a challenge.

"I'm saying people look up to you and follow your lead," Jesse said firmly. "They see their hero John Connor doesn't care about having children, but focuses on fighting Sky Net. Look around you, John. Your metal there helps you to defeat the enemy, but she can't bear a child. Same with Derek's metal..."

"Hey!" Derek snapped. "I don't see you having any kids either," he growled at Jesse.

"At least I'm capable," Jesse shot back with a sneer.

John noticed Laura wore a blank face as she stared at the table. Cameron's terminator glare was fixed square on Jesse. This was getting personal. "All right, ENOUGH!" He said in a shout. "Let's get back to the problem. We need children, not arguments." He eyed Jesse, then Derek to be sure they were not going to keep arguing, then said, "Mom, you're saying we need some kind of incentive to help families form. I think helping out say, with pulling the parents out of combat duty for a year to establish themselves may help?"

"Keeping the mother out of combat unless the situation is dire would help also," Kathy said. "And as Cameron said, letting people know how important having a family is, is vital. I have also noted that even though TX women have all the organs, not even Catherine Weaver knows why they cannot conceive. Right now, that would be at least another few thousand women who could bear children if we discover why."

"They are metal, that's why they can't have kids," Jesse stated flatly.

Kathy waved a hand at Jesse. "And what are you?" she asked harshly.

"I'm completely human," Jesse stated. "Unlike some here."

"No, you're not," Kathy said, correcting her. "Not any more. You, me ... everyone alive here today is no longer completely human." Katy stated. Stabbing a finger on the table, she said, "We all have been treated with nanites so we can function in a radioactive environment. I have been studying these things. Nanites do heal, they also harden. In X-ray studies I've done, I found the average person now has an average of 20% metallic substances in their skeletal structure. You know what that means? It means YOU are part metal! Yes, right now the ONLY difference between you and Laura over here is she was built and has a computerized brain, you were born. That's it!"

Jesse screwed her face up and barked back, "You lying ... QUACK! I am not part metal!"

"You are. All of us are," Kathy stated.

Sarah tried to say something, but Jesse shouted over her with, "You are a lying bitch!"

"FLORES!" John yelled as he shot to his feet. "YOU are relieved! Guards, take Colonel Flores into the dinning hall and hold her there."

Jesse then snapped at John, "You are choosing metal over your own flesh and blood!"

"No, I am choosing reasoning over being pig-headed," John snapped back. "Take her out of here, I'll deal with her after we are done here."

Jesse scowled and fumed but left willingly with the guards.

In the quiet after Jesse was escorted out, Sarah looked at Kathy and asked, "What are you talking about, we're becoming part metal?"

Kathy Brewster shrugged and explained, "Just what I said. The way I figure it, it's evolution. The last big change in humankind was 230,000 years ago. That is when our DNA changed for whatever reason, and we became Homo Sapiens. Now, due to circumstances, we are changing again. I don't know what you want to call us, but by technology this time, we are changing again. To deal with our environment we need nanites in our systems. Those who do not have them are slowly dying off, either to radiation directly or diseases we can't defend ourselves against due to being weakened by radiation. Not to mention the birth defects that will be caused in those who do not have nanite protection. This is fact. I can't tell you what we will be once this war is over and we settle into what we are becoming. All I can tell you is we will come out of this war different that what we began as. The purely Homo Sapien strain of humans is over. "

"You're saying that one way or the other, Sky Net IS killing off all humans," Derek stated.

"As we know ourselves, yes," Kathy agreed. "That does not mean we will all die, only change to fit into our new environment."

"That's a strange way to evolve," John said in a musing tone.

"Agreed, but that is what is happening. Everyone must change to survive," Kathy told him.

Seeing everyone was quiet, Sarah spoke up and said, "Now we know we're all going to be part metal, how do we encourage more people to have children?"

.

In Barcelona, the T-888 known as 4362 analyzed the data on the system communication errors. Not only the errors themselves, but the timeline the errors began occurring. Sky Net had given it a broader range of mental ability. It and it's brother T-888's had reasoning power.

Although free humans had been declared all but gone down on the extreme southern tip of the area, the timing of the comms errors matched Sky Net's plan to move on the remaining humans on that southern most mountain that was mostly surrounded by water. 4362 had a theory. If the humans knew if the pending attack, they would attempt to foul it. A device to corrupt communications would do that. Although there was no proof the humans took such an action, it was a reasonable theory until proven false. That also meant humans somehow had gained the ability to listen to Sky Nets comms.

In the server building were Sky Net was, 4362 presented it's theory to Sky Net. It proposed two actions. One, shift communications to another band, and two, send a local force with 4362 as the head to go find out for sure if its theory was correct. Sky Net agreed.

Not knowing what it was going to face, 4362 collected 1000 terminators , followed by 200 H/K tanks, and 20 H/K aerial units. A pair of flying H/K's would lead, the others would follow to the sides in a standard guarding range comms between units still functioned, just not any comms that depended upon satellites.

4362 wanted to keep a close watch on it's forces, so it rode on an H/K tank to keep a good view of the scouting units in the air out on front. Traveling at a jog, the fastest speed the H/K tanks could move, 4362 took it's forces down the coastal road to the mountain that was at the tip of the peninsula.

It never made it. 60 miles out from Barcelona, missiles rose up and destroyed it's scout H/K's. Humans were not where they were suppose to be. Noting where the missiles had been shot from, 4362 had it's terminators break ranks and form a broad line from the water's edge to a half mile inland, and had the four lead H/K tank target the area the missiles came from. It sent another 20 H/K tanks behind the line of terminators to assist where needed. As the 4 H/K tanks shot plasma at the launch points, 4362's line moved forward. Traveling the three miles to where the burning plant life was, one vehicle and some human corpses burned. It was obvious humans were no longer concentrated on that southern mountain.

Other flying H/K's then reported being fired on. Off to the right, 4362 saw an H/K explode and fall from the sky, then another. The others were shooting Plasma down onto humans and their machines. Three more H/K's fell. A report told 4362 a mass of humans were attacking from that direction with plasma weaponry. Right after that report, plasma fire from ahead was answered by terminators on the line. Viewing this, 4362 saw small vehicles firing at the terminators. Terminators were firing back, and their plasma bolts were skipping off the outsides of the mahcines, not penetrating.

If 4362 called the remaining flying H/K/s back, the human there would be able to attack the line. If it send out the H/K tanks at the line, then once the remaining H/K flying units were downed, then the humans wold proceed. If it didn't support the line of terminators, it was only a matter of time before holes appeared in it's line.

4362 ordered all terminators to quickly with draw, and the H/K tanks to form a line east of where the flying H/K's were fighting to keep the humans in front of it. Humans with machines capable of shooting plasma, and having protection from plasma had not been in it's calculations. If it was to defeat these humans' it had to reconsider it's plans.

A few more terminators were lost during the withdraw. 4362 recalled the flying H/K's to plan how to use them the best. Humans had been waiting for it. 4362 did not know how they knew it was coming, but they had. Humans could hide on land. They could not hide in the water. 4362 put terminators between the H/K tanks to form a solid line that curved back on the right side to prevent humans from trying to come around from the side again. It also sent it's remaining 12 H/K flying units out to sea at a very low altitude to circle around behind the humans, and destroy them when they attacked again.

Watching it's H/K's fly out over the water, 4362 notice movement much higher up. Six more H/K's were descending. At first 4362 though there were patrol units coming to help. right above it's units, these H/K's fired down on 4362's. Caught underneath the strange H/K's 4362's had no way to fight back with bottom gunnery pods, and were not able to get away. The fight was outside the effective plasma range of the H/K tanks. Another alert, and 4362 found more flying units, the propeller type airplanes humans used, coming down in a steep dive to shoot more missiles down on it's lines, hitting H/K tanks. These pulled up and away after they had shot their missiles, staying high in the air. More humans from in front also fired plasma and missiles into it's ranks.

In the confusion, 4362 directed defensive fire at the humans in front and the missiles coming down. Then a plasma shot came from behind. 4362 saw one of the small machines, then another, and another. The H/K tank under it was hit, making the power plant explode. 4362 was thrown off.

To shoot back at these small machines would be to become their next target. 4362 had to report back what they were facing. These were not beaten, weak humans. These humans were organized and bore effective weapons and tactics. At the moment, the H/K tanks were the targets from on front and behind. 4362 recalled all the terminators. Not to march or run back, but to stay low, cease fire and get through the small machines running around behind them. If they made it, they were to regroup with 4362 ten miles east of here.

This battle was lost, it was time to fall back and come up with a new plan.

.

Colonel Smith was giddy at the reports that the Sky Net units were retreating. The H/K tanks stayed to get pounded by Stugs, plasma and missiles, but all the terminators left standing had turned and ran away. The carrier air strike had finished the flying H/K's, and after the ground attack planes hit them from the air and Stugs got behind them, the Sky Net line couldn't stand the paddling, and retreated. It took his men another half hour to destroy all the H/K tanks. By that time, Marisa had come with more reinforcements.

Looking over the carnage his men had wrought upon Sky Net, Colonel Smith couldn't help but smile at his men's cheers of victory. They had just won a large engagement against Sky Net. He did loose some men and what was left of a TX was burning nearby, but they had beaten Sky Net forces so bad, the remainder of them had run away. It felt good.

"Colonel, do you need assistance?" Marisa asked as she came up to him.

Beaming her a smile, he said, "I am happy to say we do not. We set up and waited for them. After a sound paddling, the terminators left ran away. I do believe we taught them a lesson."

"Sky Net units retreated?" she asked, eyeing him.

"Yes, and it was a lovely sight to see," he agreed.

Marisa wasn't as happy. "If they retreated, then some learned the tactics you used. They will inform Sky Net and form a defense against it," she told him. "They will prepare better next time. You will have to change your tactics."

"Then we will," Smith said confidently.

"The fact some got away is not good news," Marisa stressed. "Up until now, Sky Net had no counter for our Stugs. Now Sky Net knows about them, they will develop a counter. That means we will loose many more Stugs. Possibly battles now also. We cannot afford to loose the forces we have."

"We did reduce their heavy equipment, and their air power," he said, motioning to the long line of burning H/K tanks.

"Here, yes. Sky Net has many factories, and we have yet to find one. Everything of Sky Net's here will be replaced. We cannot replace losses so easily," Marisa explained. "I have to get back to my own troops. Be wary, Colonel."

"I assure you, we will be fine," he said evenly.

Marisa left, feeling just the opposite.

.

4362 collected 326 terminators at the rendezvous. A small fraction of what they had started the day with. The percentages of stopping the humans from advancing was very small. The small machines were the worst threat. these things had to be fast. They had killed the H/K tanks by sneaking up behind them. Using it's reasoning power, 4362 determined that it may be possible to do the same to them, if they hid and let the machines pass by. The humans had also used deception, setting a force in front to draw their attention, then the real attack came from other directions.

4362 lead it's terminators at a run farther east, looking for a suitable place to set such a trap. Coming to a town, it slowed to a walk and studied the area. This town had low walls going into it. 4362 stopped and looked back at the road. It rose slightly to come into town. Plants were to both sides of the road. The stone wall was solid, no sensors were able to see through it. The buildings in the town were fairly solid. Walking on, 4362 noted the road dropped going out of town. It looked at the buildings again, and the road, then ran simulations in it's head about those machines coming into town. 4362 then walked back, noting where the side streets were, counting the streets, building windows and low spots. Forming a plan, it began directing terminators on where to be and how to position themselves. It also sent back a runner to inform Sky Net of what it had discovered.

.

Colonel Smith kept a picket force out beyond the battlefield as the majority of his small army collected ruined terminators that were scattered all over the place. The H/K tank hulls were being cut up for scrap. He did send for a freighter from Gibraltar to a port not far behind them so they could load the 600 plus terminator remains and the chunks of tank hull his TX's were cutting apart.

As Colonel Smith leaned up the battlefield, Four Stugs looked at a town by the sea 12 miles away. Two circled around the land side. A pair of TX's left the other two Stugs and ran low, bent over to get a close look at the town. Peeking over the low wall, one of the TX's saw a terminator crouched down behind the wall. He quickly pulled back and got the other's attention. They returned to their Stugs and gave the commanders the terminator's positions. The commanders radioed the other Stugs - terminators hiding in ambush in the town.

From the west side, the Stugs opened up on the low stone walls, blasting rock and crumbling the wall. The terminators rose up and fired back, exposing themselves. TX's and Stug canon picked off the 20 terminators who'd been hiding, then began shooting into houses. From the east side, the Stugs found terminators lying on the road leaving town, waiting in ambush, and shot them. Again, more terminators came out to return fire. The fire was too heavy, a pair of TX's were lost. The Stugs had to back off with much of their ceramic armor blown away. They kept the town in sight and radioed for help. For the moment, the Sky Net terminators held onto the town that was now beginning to burn from the plasma fire.

.

Marisa got a scout report from a squad up near Madrid. They found three factories and large fields of every kind of Sky Net machine east of Madrid. So far, 150,000 terminators, at least 50,000 H/K tanks, 20,000 flying H/K's, many tracked service trucks and mobile artillery were packed into large squares. The factories were producing, but so far, all the product was being parked in the fields beyond.

Marisa didn't know why Sky Net wasn't distributing the new machines, but she did know this was a big threat she had no effective way of attacking. She needed to talk to John to find out what he wanted to do about them. Until she got instructions, Marisa decided to make a wide circle around the area, planting mines and weakening bridges so they would not take the weight of the H/K tanks. It was the best she could to do contain them.

.

Sky Net Barcelona got the messenger informing it of humans attacking 'in force' only 50 miles away. Not having any luck at shifting the band of it's digital satellite comms, Sky Net chose to shift farther to use radio frequencies. It verified these communications worked, then send out a larger force to crush the humans and sent messenger terminators out to the Madrid area plants to inform it's units of the new communications.

.

Colonel Smith decided to recall the battered Stugs from around the town and set up artillery. Once they were in place, he shelled the town with a 'creeping barrage', that started at one end of the town and traveled to the other end, utterly destroying the place. He then send his soldiers in to remove whatever terminators remained.

.

4362 acted when the first shells began falling. The human were attacking again. Not wanting his terminators destroyed or surrounded, it made another withdrawal to the east. It also found a messenger returning to give it the communications frequency. 4362 found another 10,000 terminators and 300 H/K tanks were coming and 500 flying H/K's were available to it. This time it put 5000 terminators and 200 of the H/K tanks to the north to sit and wait while it drew the rest 4 more miles back. It grounded the flying H/K's until the humans advanced past the units to the north. The units 4362 kept near the road, it set up a similar line, but this time with more terminators behind the H/K tanks to protect their rear.

.

Once the town was a leveled burning wreck, Colonel Smith moved on around the town. He only went 5 miles and scouts reported another mass of Sky Net units up ahead. Sensing that this was Sky Net's 'last stand' in the area, he decide to engage. Running the Stugs around to the north, he set up his artillery and moved his men forward.

Riding in the command truck with Smith, Tina asked, "Sir, is this wise? We would do better to make them come to us."

Smith cast her a smile and said, "They are not attacking. That tells me they are trying to hold until reinforcements arrive. We do the same maneuver, keep them occupied until the Stugs get behind them and take out their tanks. Then we pummel them and this time, we keep at it until we get them all."

"Remember, Sir, they know about our Stugs now," she told him. "If they are standing their ground, they could have a counter for our Stugs."

"That would be rather fast, wouldn't it?" he asked.

Tina eyed him and said, "Sir, Sky Net does think quickly. It is very possible it has a workable solution. Do not underestimate Sky Net. I highly recommend stopping and keeping watch to see what Sky Net is going to do."

"And loose our initiative?" Smith asked in a scoff. "Tina, if we don't keep going, then Sky Net will regain it's balance."

"Please examine the situation closely before committing," Tina stressed.

The radio spoke. "This is Scout leader to Command. We have a line of 1000 terminators at point bravo 57, 90 H/K tanks have been spotted directly behind the line. The line of units is 1200 meters long. The beach area and beyond is clear."

"Roger, Scout leader," Smith replied. "This is command, artillery open fire on Bravo 57. All Stug squads, begin end run."

Tina got up on top of the command truck. Seeing Lily, she called the TX over and up to her.

"Yes, Tina?" Lily asked.

"Keep a close watch out, ears and eyes," Tina told her.

Lily nodded and got down. Seeing a tree, Lily ran over and climbed it.

.

Smith listened to the battle communications. At first all was going well. Sky Net's front line was being shelled and the Stugs were making their way around to the north. Then came a frantic call.

"Command, we got fliers, tons of them coming down on us!"

"We can't get our barrels up high enough to shoot back!"

"Weave, damnit!"

"Command, we're..."

"Get under cover!"

"This is artillery, We're getting attacked from the North! Terminators and H..."

Lily yelled from her treetop position. "TINA! Flying H/K's coming, hundreds!"

"Command! A whole mass of terminators popped up, we're getting pounded by ... thousands of them!"

Tina shouted down the truck's hatch. "Colonel, we have a mass attack from the air!"

Smith keyed him mike and ordered, "Shoot the fliers down, then attack those terminators!"

The sky was heavily dotted with black forms racing at them. Tina knew they were in trouble. A few missiles streaked up to down some H/K's the H/K's shot a rain of plasma down on the troops as they flew closer. Tina also saw H/K tanks behind them, destroying the artillery. A plasma bolt struck the truck beside theirs, blowing it up. Tina brought her plasma canons out and shot skyward, hitting an H/K's engine, then another one. A plasma bolt from above hit the back of their truck. The fuel tank exploded, pitching her to the ground. She rolled and got to her feet to shoot a third down, then a fourth. All it did was clear space for more to come in. Screams and cries of pain filled the air.

Tina ran close to the overturned truck and fired one plasma bolt after another. Plasma bolts shot up from ground level and rained down just as hard. Another TX shooting up at the H/K's was hit, melting down her hard and into her torso. Her body dropped, one arm falling off as he remains burned. Horizontal plasma bolts were now also incoming. An ammo carrier went up, shaking the ground with an explosion and sending a large fireball into the air.

Tina knew they were trapped. To stay here meant death. They could not go back they way they came. She yelled as loud as possible, "RETREAT INTO THE WATER, NOW!" Spiriting around the truck, she saw pieces of the tree Lily had climbed into was burning. One of Lily's legs was smouldering on the ground. Tina shot for the ocean as fast as she could run, dodging side to side. She noted a few others following her. Racing into the surf, Tina dove in to hide her infrared signature as fast as possible. water boiled up to her right. Crawling as fast as she could go, she got ten feet of water over her, then stood up.

Tina collected other TX's together as she saw them. She then had them look for any others who'd gotten to safety. As white light from plasma shots and orange lights from fireballs lit the water's surface, Tina managed to find 37 TX's, Some missing arms or arms and shoulders. They shorted out and shut down. Tina had them carried. When it was clear no others were coming, she led them back west. After walking a mile under water, Tina had them wait and walked up to poke her head out of the water.

On land, Terminators were shooting down terrified men who tried to surrender. H/K tanks were everywhere and Flying H/K's commanded the sky. She got down and went back to the few she was able to save, and walked away from this horrid mistake.

.

Marisa contemplated her position. She'd been scouting and expanding into the areas where there was no, or very little Sky Net. Finding the factories, she left scouts to watch the mass of Sky Net units there to know if they moved. She expected they would, but had no idea which direction they would go in. Once all the traps of proximity detectors/claymore mines, bridge damage and road pits were set that could be, she moved away from the area. She was expecting at least some of the mass to move as she waiting for General Connor's recommendations.

What she was not expecting was to have a scout report from her south that they had found a Stug with battle damage carrying several TX's fleeing from the coast. The report was that a large Sky Net force had obliterated Colonel Smith's command.

This was bad news. If there was nothing left of Smith's forces, then Gibraltar was wide open to attack. John was counting on Gibraltar as a main supply base. Marisa kept the core of her army more to her west and used fluid maneuvers. She didn't use it to batter her way through an area. She gave coordinates to the scout party that found the Stug, for them and the Stug to meet her. She then took off to go find out exactly what happened.

Flying over the road, Marisa's carrier got her to the rendezvous point. Coming up the road towards her was one of her Studs with the scout party riding on top. Behind it was a blackened Stug missing much of it's ceramic armor. This one had so many TX's on it, she could easily see them falling off. The top of the Stug where the hatch was had three TX's standing up in it.

Marisa went over to the battered Stug and said, "Report, what happened?"

The TX's climbed down, except for one who was missing a leg and another was missing from her belly down. A couple others were missing an arm.

A whole TX that was only missing most of the flash on her left side explained the battle, and as far as she knew, only they, and the TX's that fled into the ocean had survived. Colonel Smith's command had been wiped out.

"Damn!" Marisa spat. She had warned Smith to be careful. He'd went ahead and attacked without knowing where all the Sky Net units were and got them all killed. She had no choice but to redistribute her forces and beg John for help.

.

4362 looked over the bodies. It got his attention that some were not human. One corpse that was smouldering, only the hips and legs left of it, bore metal actuators and a metal frame. He stripped this one's flesh of to find it had been a terminator. Tipping his head to the side, he found no logical reason why a terminator would cover itself in flesh and fight for humans.

This was not the only one. 4362 found other parts of bodies that had been terminators. A flesh covered terminator leg, Another lower body that identified as a t-888 design. To be sure that all the bodies were not terminators, he stripped the flesh off other corpses and found human bone. This was puzzling. Humans were not strong enough to control terminators. Were some terminators controlling these humans? Until he had an answer to this puzzle, he had the area surrounded so he could study this oddity more and consult with Sky Net on why this had occurred.

.

Talking with John Henry, John Connor learned that Sky Net was now using radio frequencies for communications.

At his command center in the Cheyenne mountain complex, John Connor faced the monitor John Henry was on. "You can understand the Sky Net code?' John asked.

"Yes," John Henry said and on the side of the screen, lines of computer code came up. "It is simple ASCII coding. It appears Sky Net is split into many segments. It is using this code to reconnect the isolated duplicates of itself back together. There are eight that have identified themselves. I have a much better picture of what Sky Net is doing now," John Henry explained.

A world map replaced John Henry's face on the screen. Red dots appeared on the map. "Spain, Germany, Russia, China, India, Ireland, England, Africa are where the Sky Net segments are. Sky Net should have a segment in Australia also, but it is not n line," John Henry said. "Either it has not gotten the frequency, or it has ceased to exist."

"We can only hope it has ceased to exist," John replied with a crooked grin. "Have you gotten any information on what Sky Net is doing now?"

John Henry explained, "I have. Since there is no contact with Sky Net Australia, Sky Net is shifting the fleet it is making in priority from contacting the Sky Nets in North America to Sky Net in Australia. When the communications came back on line, I radioed Sky Net as Sky Net North America and reported all is pacified. It has shifted priorities. Except for two places, Australia and Spain, Sky Net had pacified the other continents. There is minor human resistance in Africa and Asia, but the only confrontations is in Spain. Sky Net Europe reports armed conflict by 'significant numbers' of humans that have been eliminated."

"Any details on the Spanish report?" John asked, wondering if Marisa's forces had been defeated.

"The location of the battle was on the Spanish southern coast. It appears Sky Net has many ruined Stugs to inspect, as well as portions of TX's it refers to as unknown terminators to analyze," John Henry told him.

"FUCK!" John spat. "So Sky Net will be able to duplicate TX's now?" In his mind, the terminator in his dream just smashed him with a left hook. This was a devastating blow.

"Unknown. It will take time to study. Eventually, Sky Net will copy them," John Henry said firmly.

John rubbed his forehead. "That's a blow we can't afford to take," he grumbled.

"Yes, an advantage lost," John Henry agreed. "Sky Net knows there is another entity that is producing terminators. At the moment, the suspected entity is John Connor, but it does not know where, how, or what factories you are using. That will buy us some time."

"Not much time, I'm sure," John said, very unhappy an learning this. He rubbed his head in thought and said, "John Henry, you are playing at being Sky Net North America?"

"Yes, I thought it appropriate to keep Sky Net from sending forces this way."

"Good thinking, that was the right thing to do," John told him. "Can you convince Sky Net you will send a force to Australia to search for Sky Net Australia?"

"All segments are sending forces," John Henry replied. "It is mandatory except for Sky Net Europe. Sky Net Europe is to concentrate on solving the Spanish problem."

"Figures," John agreed. He frowned and said, "At the moment, we're occupied with Mexico and Spain. I can't spare any significant force to go to Australia. A few scouts, but nothing that is going to make any difference."

"Catherine Weaver has sent one of the small subs there to asses the situation in Australia and the islands to the north," John Henry said. "They will report their findings."

"Thank Catherine for me. I want to know what she finds out. Are you picking up and of our comms from Spain?" John asked.

"A few. Marisa is frugal with radio comms. She is still active," John Henry told him.

"That's good news at least," John grumbled. "It sounds like all of Sky Net Europe is coming after her." Pausing, he thought for a moment, then said, "Sky Net is most likely to head for Gibraltar. That is where it knows humans were at."

"Agreed, it should be evacuated."

John frowned in thought then said, "It will be, and I think I have got a place for them to go."

.

Marisa took reports as she waited for news from John. The mass of Sky Net units near Madrid had begun to move south west and were running into her traps. The ones on the coast road hadn't moved yet. A few at a time, Gibraltar could withstand a Sky Net attack. If all the mass coming from Madrid attacked, it would be pounded into a pile of rubble. She moved the core of her army farther south, only 50 miles from the coast, and drew her scouts from the north as they kept up setting traps in Sky Net's way. Once they got close, Marisa struggled to come up with a good plan to stop them. She just could not find a way to do that.

Then Marisa got a message from John. He gave her her orders, followed by a *hug* and a statement of 'I know you can do it'. It was a plan Marisa hadn't even considered. She hugged the message and got to work.

The first thing Marisa did was have radio receivers set to to search for and triangulate on Sky Net's radio messages. Once that was in progress, she raced down to Gibraltar and had everyone evacuate and the harbor cleared of ships and headed back to the US. The disabled TX's she found she sent back on the and the ones who were still 100% insisted on staying with her.

Figuring the angle the mass of Madrid units were coming from, Marisa sent scouts out between them and the coastal Sky Net units to clear a path. Sky Net was busy with it's radio traffic, and it didn't take long to figure out where it was coming from. Before Sky Net could get any closer, Marisa hurried her army to the northeast, between the two Sky Net forces, leaving the standard traps for them to find.

Once Marisa was sure they were clear of the Sky Net forces, she had her radio trackers set up again to verify the location of Sky Net. It was in Barcelona, which made sense why there were so many Sky Net units on the coast here. Marisa sent scouts to sneak as close to the city as possible and not give themselves away, then set up and triangulate Sky Net's position again. She knew she had once chance at this, she could not fail.

The artillery was set up at optimum range,encircled by three rings or protection. Some civil war canons and 160 MM canons made up the 250 artillery pieces she had to zero in on the building Sky Net was occupying. ll shells were the seeker shells. They had the coordinates of the building and a scout got a good picture of it. As Sky Net's massive army was beginning their solid river of plasma shot against the Rock, Marisa got into place to look over the city, specifically the building targeted and ordered, "Fire!"

The rumble of artillery sounded, then the building disappeared in a cloud of smoke as shells rained down on it. In the heavy smoke and flame, Marisa noted chunks of wall blasting out. She kept the bombardment up as H/K's took to the sky. Calling in the H/K's presence and number to the missile batteries, she watched them fly to their fate. 22 H/K's were racing at her. They fired at the missiles, the plasma bolts were splint when they hit the missiles, then the missiles hit the H/K's. The craft dropped three and four at a time. By the time they were overhead, only 9 were left. More missiles and ground Plasma fire took send the rest of them to the ground as burning wrecks.

Refocusing on the Sky Net building, Marisa node the smoke of explosions was much closer to the ground.

"Report status of Sky Net transmissions," Marisa ordered.

Her radio replied, "Sky Net transmission ceased as of four minutes, 32 point three seconds ago."

"This is Colonel Marisa. Cease fire, pack up and prepare to move due north. Scouts, blaze the trail."

While the bulk of Sky Net's units were attacking Gibraltar, Marisa headed off to destroy the factories they came from. Just as General John had told her to do.

She wanted so bad to hug him again!


	24. Chapter 24

CH 24

4362 had not been receiving any further transmissions from Sky Net, so it continued to lead the mass of forces towards the mountain peninsula. Signs showed that humans were attempting to stall them by setting explosive traps and ruining roads. Already, 4362 had H/K's flying over the mountain and shooting plasma down onto it to crack rock open. No humans had been sighted in the area. They must all be inside. There was also the possibility that they may be hiding in the ships in the harbor, or in the buildings. 4362 had everything leveled by the H/K's and the ships there sunk.

By the time the H/K tanks got close enough to help reduce the mountain to blasted rock, it was clear that either the humans were hiding, or all inside were terminated. It was odd no bodies had been found so far, and there was not even the traps units had been finding along the way. Packing as many units onto the peninsula as possible, 4362 was not finding any humans at all. Humans had been very aggressive, the data wasn't making sense.

Then 4362 received a distress signal from the factory complex now hundreds of miles away. The factories were under a punishing attack by human forces, the defense forces left behind were destroyed. 4362 requested help from Sky Net but Sky Net was silent and didn't answer. It did the only thing it could do. It had all the forces not currently busy reducing the Rock to rubble, head for the factories in a vain attempt to save them, and sent a squad of terminators to go back to Barcelona to report it wasn't getting any transmissions from Sky Net.

.

John re-routed supplies and reinforcements from Southern Spain to the north coast of Spain and send a message to Marisa about the change. He also praised her for the great job she did, knocking out Sky Net Spain and three Sky Net factories. Since they might have to 'attack' the resupply point, he also sent 1000 TX's with M-1 tanks as well as the replacement Stugs and crews for all the tanks. In sealing off Spain from the rest of Europe, she was also to look hard for any survivors in the Pyrenees mountains.

The situation in Mexico was going well. General Jacobson was down to the Yucatan and the southern Mexican border. Besides being warmer, that area was also less radioactive. Food could be grown there that was healthy enough, so long as the people had nanites to clean up the weak radiation in the food. There were a few enclaves of humans who had drifted back to Mayan heritage after the world fell apart. John agreed with Jacobson that they should respect the Mayan nation and make treaties with them for mutual protection and trade. Sky Net was working it's way north from South America and were nearly up to Panama in their eradication of humans. That had to be stopped.

In his command post, John noted one of the TX Captains from Flores' supply regiment had come asking to see him.

Cameron cast John a look and glanced at the Sargent who announced the man.

"Send him in," John told him.

The Captain marched in and saluted. "General, I have a grievance I believe you should know about."

John returned his salute. "Very well, let's hear it, Captain."

Standing at attention, the Captain said, "Sir, I am the coordinator responsible for handling damaged terminators coming back from the front lines. Colonel Flores is not paying attention to the damaged and disabled terminators returning. She even suggested throwing away their chips, Sir!"

John could see, even for a terminator, he was upset. "Has she thrown any away?" John asked.

"Not to my knowledge, Sir. We do have a warehouse holding 2153 terminators needing repair and 7297 viable chips from Terminators who have lost their bodies," the Captain stated.

"Is there a problem with transportation?" John asked.

"Negative, Sir. The last train that left for the west coast, had three empty cars. Colonel Flores sent the train without informing us. We bring in terminators but we are not being allowed to move them on to repair facilities."

John told Cameron, "Get me Flores on the line, I want to talk to her." To the Captain, he said, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. If the situation does not change within three days, I want you to report back to me."

"Than you, Sir!" the Captain said with a salute.

John returned the salute. The Captain turned and marched out.

From the communications console, Cameron said, "John, I have Colonel Flores on the line."

John walked over and keyed the mike. "Colonel Flores?"

"Yes General?" Jesse replied in a flat tone.

"Are you having a transportation problem?" John asked. "I was just informed terminators who have been damaged in battle are not making it to repair facilities. I suppose you have a good reason why not?"

"I was not aware of that problem, General."

Her tone told John that Jesse did not consider this a priority. "It is a problem, Colonel. If you cannot get them on their way to be repaired, perhaps I need to send someone who can help you do your job."

There was a pause, then, "I will ensure the busted up metal will be sent on their way," Jesse stated.

"You do that, I will be waiting to hear from repair facilities that they are receiving the damaged terminators, AND the mass of chips that must be collecting in your warehouse. Connor out." He put the mike down and stared at it briefly.

"She can't let it go, can she?" he asked no one.

Softly, Cameron said, "John, Jesse Flores doesn't like any terminators. That will never change."

John let out a huff and flopped an arm down. "So where do I put her? She can't lead a force, she doesn't work well with terminators, which are in just about every unit we have," he said in frustration. "Logistics is the only place where she has minimal contact with any terminators. If she keeps screwing this up, I'll be forced to stick her at a desk here, or dismissing her completely."

"Then you would have to," Cameron stated.

"Yeah, and possibly stick someone who can fight into a support role," he said with a snort.

"The Captain that was here requested to have a non-combatant role," Cameron said. "There are others, including freed terminators who do not want to fight and are filling in factory and support positions."

John barked out a sarcastic chuckle. "Replace Jesse with a TX? She'd probably blow up completely. I'd like to salvage her if at all possible," he said. He bit his lip and pondered aloud, "Maybe have that Captain have his own separate section to ensure terminators get to where they are going. Take him out from under her command to deal with the transportation department directly." Shaking his head, he added, "Maybe Flores will straighten up."

Cameron cast him a tiny smile. "Perhaps she will," she said, not believing it.

.

The moment General Bedell got the information that the supply landing site in Spain had been changed, he passed the word to his admiral to collect their ships together to form another landing assault. The Lexington now had 50 ground attack planes and 20 H/K's. Due to the smaller size of the prop planes, they could pack a few more in the ship. The ammunition stores on board all his ships were full, and the ammo factory in Galveston and Corpus Christi were cranking out the missile shells and torpedoes. Admiral Dave had 130 mini subs, and the Lexington fleet had 3 destroyers, 4 cruisers and a pair of LST's. The freighter fleet now based in Charleston SC was up to 12 ships. With the scheduled freighters, Bedell was sending his fleet to ensure the freighters got there and all the supplies and reinforcements arrived. The Seawolf and the Onyx were also accompanying the fleet, then heading to Iceland with the fleet to see what was there now. If Sky Net didn't have many forces there, or none, they were going to set up a radio station and a base.

From Marisa's reports, John expected her to be at the rendezvous beach in Spain in 14 days. The fleet was to meet them.

.

Lower Mexico was not hit with bombs, but used to have terminators going around killing everyone the saw. The Mayans on the Yucatan and in Guatemala agreed with a mutual defense pact and trade with Connor's forces, seeing how the wiped out the metal in the area. They did not have much in the way of defense and were struggling until General Jacobson showed up. Right away, General Jacobson got 150 Mayan scouts who knew Guatemala to help get his forces south as fast as possible. Besides the coastal highway, these men knew of inland roads to get them south in an alternate route.

Besides getting his army south, General Jacobson trained Mayan troops and supplied them with projectile weapons and the initial officers for their forces. He also had a team set up radar stations and send prospective Mayan pilots up to Texas to learn how to fly their ground attack planes. Naval assistance would come directly from Texas. When the Mayan pilots went north, they took truckloads of fruit with them. Fruit was in very scarce supply up north.

The new Mayan President hailed General Jacobson, and the resistance leader, John Connor as friends of the new Mayan republic. Due to this, John and Cameron scheduled a trip to meet with the Mayan President.

John had to admit, for the moment things were going fairly well, and he would not mind a few days in a warmer climate. There was also the possibility of seeing Cameron walking around in skimpy clothing. Yes, he would like that.

.

In Spain, Marisa leveled the Sky Net factories. Tina who'd managed to make it back up onto land before Marisa fled Gibraltar, was in charge of collecting disabled Sky Net terminators and anything that could be salvaged from the factory wreckage. Working fast, she collected Sky Net carriers to pile the terminators on and formed buckets to fill with every intact CPU chip she could find. Once Tina's troops and vehicles were loaded down with all they could carry, what had to be left behind was liberally dusted with all the thermite they had, then set on fire.

Leaving the burning piles of scrap, Marisa followed the scout force north. Going north, she found the temperature dropping and they were getting into snow. So far, it was only up to a foot deep, enough to leave tracks, but not enough to hider movement. Like before, they ran into small bands of terminators, some with an H/K tank, but no serious threats. Making the mountains to the north by the sea, Marisa formed her forces into a semi-circle around the supply beaches and moved in, leaving a defense picket to guard against a Sky Net attack. Missile and projectile ammunition was getting low. She made the order that unless it was vital, only plasma weaponry was to be used.

Like the coastal area Marisa had first landed at in Spain, only a few terminators were here, searching for humans. She did get a surprise upon finding the town with intact docks. Up on a hillside, there was a cave that oversaw the ocean. She went up to make that her command post. Since Tina was her Support commander, Tina salvaged a table and got a few men and TX's to made this cave into a command center.

Marisa had lights brought in and directed the placement of tables, maps and chairs. Standing near the back she almost jumped in surprise when a voice behind her called, "Chequita!"

Turning, she saw a smiling, dirty faced man sticking his head out of the hole she had been sure was empty. Extending her hand she said in Spanish, "We are friends, let me help you out."

The man was tall and thin. She helped him crawl out and called, "We have survivors! We need food, water and nanite milk."

The man struggled out and beamed her a smile. "You were speaking English, you Amerikan?"

"We are," Marisa agreed. "We are fighting Sky Net and looking for survivors."

"Such lovely Muchachas, too!" the man beamed. "You can beat the metal monsters?"

"To a pulp," Marisa agreed. "Are there more of you hiding in these caves?"

"Si, the entire town. These silver man looking machines came and were killing everyone! We shot them but it did no good. While we men fought, we also got everyone possible up into this cave," he explained. "Many did not make it. We survive by a stream inside, and forage for food when no metal is around. But now that you're here, we can help get rid of those things!"

"We will be grateful for the assistance," Marisa assured him. "I have supplies coming for you and your people. It is safe to come out for the moment, but if we tell you, hurry back in. Sky Net is still active in Spain."

The man beamed a big smile at Tina, "Oh! so lovely!" he said and looked outside to see Stugs and people moving around. "You have an army!"

Tina returned his smile. "We do. We are happy to see you made it."

"I am so happy to see you!" the man beamed. He lifted her hand and kissed it. "Thank you for finding us."

"Sir, do you know if there are more caves that may have people in them?" Marisa asked.

The man jerked a thumb over his shoulder and said, "There are caves all through these mountains. I am sure others managed to hide away as well."

"That is good news. As soon as we can, we will go looking for them," Marisa promised.

.

At 65 degrees, Panama was no longer the sweltering jungle it once was, but still warm enough for some mosquitoes. Many of the trees and plants that acclimated to the previous high temperatures died off, leaving brown landscape. Captain Price led his Stug squad along, knowing Sky Net troops had been reported down here. He kept his four machines about a half mile apart, near highway 1 but not on the road if it could be helped. It wasn't until he neared the Canal zone that they met anything but small groups of people fleeing north in the woods.

There were only 3 bridges across the Panama Canal. The Atlantic bridge on the Atlantic side, highway 1 into Panama city, and the main Pan-American Highway on the Pacific side. Nearing these, Captain Price stopped his Stugs on the hills overlooking the area. Sky Net had construction, or rather destruction equipment near the water. The docks near the Highway 1 bridge were filled with sparks as terminators were cutting apart all sizes of ships to load into trucks to be hauled away to the south.

"Scavengers," Captain Price grumbled.

"I don't see any H/K's, we could run down there and take out that bridge," one of his Stug commanders suggested.

"If the General wants to go south, we're going to need those bridges," Price reminded him.

"He better have a good plan," another Stug commander replied.

.

Tina, who now officially commanded of the remains of the British forces got a visit from Captain Parker, who had been in charge of the Gibraltar defenses before Marisa came and pulled them all out. The older man with white hair and mustache came into Tina's office near the docks and snapped to attention. With a salute, he said, "Major, we have a problem that needs to be addressed."

Tina returned his salute and asked, "What is it?"

"I discovered several of our troops are fraternizing, we even have a nurse that is pregnant!" he stated.

"Really?" she asked brightly.

"Indeed! This must be dealt with. We cannot have our combat soldiers on the line becoming pregnant and ... fooling around," he stated.

"That is correct," Tina agreed. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Have the pregnant woman and her man come up to Colonel Marisa's HQ, a well as the couples you know of. Once we settle things there, I'll speak to all our troops," Tina told him.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Captain Parker said crisply, saluted and left to go collect the offenders.

Captain Parker was happy to see that Tina was still maintaining discipline. It seemed that as of late, discipline was sorely lacking. Fraternization was not allowed. The British army had no room for people who could not behave themselves. Although there were only 2400 of them left, they were still soldiers and expected to act the part. He collected the guilty parties and informed them that for their lack of self control, the Colonel wanted to see them and punishment was sure to follow.

Captain Parker marched all 20 of the sad looking group up to the cavern HQ. When he arrived, Major Tina was there with the Latino Colonel Marisa. They were talking when he came in and had the offenders form up in ranks. He stood in front of them and snapped a salute. "Colonel, I have gathered the fraternizers," he announced.

"Thank you, Captain," Marisa said and returned his salute. She looked them over and asked, "Who is pregnant?"

A couple women shifted in place and swallowed.

Louder, Marisa asked, "Who is pregnant, SPEAK UP!"

"I am, Ma'am."

"I may be, Ma'am."

Marisa pointed to the side and said, "Come over here, with the fathers."

The two women and two guilty looking men went over to where she pointed and stood at attention.

Marisa turned to them and said, "General Connor had made the order that no mother or prospective mother may be allowed to be in a combat zone unless the situation is dire. If the situation allows, the father will also accompany mother and child to their new post. You four will be transferred to General Reese on the east coast of North America. General Reese or his designated representative will be assigning you to your new duty stations. You leave on the next transport out."

"Ma'am?" the light brown haired woman asked nervously. "We will not be forced to ... abort, will we?"

"Negative. There is a severe lack of children due to the effects of the nuclear bombs being dropped. Those fetuses you carry are precious. You will be closely monitored, and every effort will be made to ensure you have healthy children," Marisa told them. "Fathers will be expected to support their women and children as well to the best of their ability."

Four smiles beamed at her. "We're not going to be court-martialed?" one of the men asked.

Marisa tipped he head slightly and asked, "For having a child? That would be counter productive. As I said, we desperately need children to ensure humanity does not go extinct." Marisa then turned to Parker who was standing open mouthed in shock. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Having a child is just as important, if not more important that destroying Sky Net forces."

"But..." he said weakly.

Marisa turned to the others who looked relieved. "Are any of you seeking to be pregnant?" she asked.

A blonde flushed and replied, "I wasn't, but if it helps save humanity... I can be."

"Good, go make those babies. You are dismissed," Marisa stated, which got her beaming smiles in return.

Captain Parker saluted and in his weak voice, said, "Troops, dismissed."

The line turned and filed out.

Tina offered, "There are two LST's due in tomorrow with escorts. I will have our expecting mother on them."

"Thank you, Tina," Marisa said.

To the four greatly relived prospective mothers and fathers," Tina said, "Tomorrow, be at center dock with all your gear when the LST's come in. I will have your orders."

"Yes, Ma'am!" they eagerly replied.

After she left, Tina collected the rest of the British forces and explained to them that they desperately needed children, and John Connor's orders.

Captain Parker was appalled. Fraternization was sure to become rampant now.

.

Now that the expecting mothers were going to be shipped back to North America, Marisa looked at the scouting reports. The roads along the northern Spanish coast showed no signs of Sky Net, yet. Her scouts were in the first pass in the mountains between Spain and France. Here, the snow was deep and showed no sign of Sky Net movement. She still had the pass watched as the lead scout groups moved on. She was getting supplies and reinforcements. Some of those supplies were digging and excavating equipment, along with seed to start gardens.

The caves these townspeople had used were large enough to be expanded, and there was water inside. Testing the water showed mild radiation, but after purifying, the particles were removed. Many of the townsfolk, eager to start making their own food, were helping to help construct garden spaces and set up the full spectrum lights for the gardens. By now, the Resistance had cave gardening down to a science. There was no longer the need to try and figure out how to do it, a few experts in underground food production came with the last reinforcements.

The mountainous area they were in now was much more defensible. Not only were her troops able to see anyone coming from a long distance away, but Marisa also had the ability to move and shift forces without Sky Net seeing, if they did come. With ski, and snow shows, her foot soldiers had a nice advantage over Sky Net troops, and the stugs seemed to b made to operate in snow.

The airport her crews constructed didn't have concrete runways, but three feet of ice that formed the runways. 50 ground attack plane and 30 H/K's had been delivered by the Lexington. Control of the air would no longer be one-sided.

A message came in from General Connor. Since Marisa had done well, and now had an army of 40,000, she was promoted to General. Once she had Spain isolated, she was to disable all Sky Net forces in Spain and be ready to assist in an attack on Africa.

Marisa hugged the message, feeling good that John had such trust in her.

.

John stood on the steps of the ancient Mayan Temple of the Sun. Beside him was the Mayan President on one side with his staff, on his other was Cameron and Maria. Thousands were gathered to hear him speak. He swore every single survivor of Mayan heritage was present. Looking out at the crowd, he spoke into his mike in Spanish.

"I wished he knew the Mayan language. I applaud all of you that do. It was not easy to learn the language of your forefathers. The Mayan culture has a rich heritage that was all but destroyed by the Spanish. That is a terrible shame. Structures like this one, and all the ones around us, show that at one time, The Maya had a great, prosperous empire, and were a proud people. The Mayan science and knowledge attained, at one time, was one of the best in the world. The most accurate keeping of time, the first culture to perform difficult surgeries and one of the best systems of math. You can be great again. The current war against Sky Net has devastated all cultures around the world. You, the Maya are one of the very few who have survived as a culture. That proves the toughness of the Mayan people. We come here, not as the Spanish to conquer, not as the Mexicans to force you into our nation, but as friends to help you succeed and grow. All people need to come together to get rid of Sky Net. I pledge my support to the Mayan Nation, and ask you assist us as we will assist you. If you allow it, I want to join hands with the Maya, and let the great Maya culture stand fee and independent as it once was. Thank you for listening."

A roar of cheers went up as did applause and raised fists. John waved to them and stepped aside to let the Mayan President speak. He addressed the crowd in Mayan. John had no idea what he said, but he waved to John a few times in his enthusiastic speech. Again, the crowd roared in approval.

John knew what the President wanted in return for growing more crops for North America. They needed construction equipment, coastal defenses and his help to make the whole Yucatan, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras into one Mayan nation. John had no problem with that. It would stabilize the upper part of Central America and give him a solid southern ally.

.

John talked with General Jacobson about the Panama canal. They had to take it back intact, with as little damage to it as possible. A straight attack by land would not do that. If Sky Net decided to blow the only three bridges across the canal to keep them at bay, that would slow them down considerably. Knowing they had to strike hard and fast, John decided to use General Bedell's fleet of Minisubs to land to the southern Atlantic coast with Stugs and terminators to secure that bridge as Jacobson's troops attacked from the north. He also had Catherine Weaver send her ships to the southern end in the Pacific at the same time to attack in unison with Jacobson's troops. They ground attack planes would bomb Sky Net forces farther south with H/K's and jets as air cover. Not knowing if Sky Net in South America had good communications, they would also drop the satellite scrambling buoys the night before into both coastal waters.

Once the plan was set, John and Cameron took a couple days to enjoy the warm weather and each other before they returned to Cheyenne Mountain.

Cuddled in a lounger on the veranda of their guest house, John idly stroked Cameron as he nuzzled her neck. "This is nice," he said, and kissed her neck.

"It is," Cameron agreed. "For only being five years into the war, we are doing well. Sky Net has divide itself, but we are finding and taking out each piece."

John chuckled and said, "We are. I can't stop thinking about the war either, even when I want to. We have a huge responsibility to make sure Sky Net is defeated. There is so much rebuilding to do as well. I was thinking radiation absorption towers, then ejecting the collected radioactive material into space. Preferably into the sun. "

Cameron pulled John's arms a little tighter around her, pressing a hand into her middle breast. "The towers needs to have a positive charge with negative grounding rods around it. Also very large air cleaners. It will take a long time to do significant reduction in radiation."

John fondled her and asked, "The most radioactive places first? We can find out sooner in those places if the system works." He kissed her neck and licked her ear.

Cameron laughed. Turning her head to eye him, she asked, "Is this our new play time? Discussing business during pleasure?"

The way she said it made John chuckle. "Maybe. It is a 'Hot' topic," He said and wiggled his eyebrows.

Cameron put a finger to his lips and told him, "Promise me the words, Sky Net, war, troops, or plans, will not come out of your mouth for at least the next hour, and I'll give you something to be happy about."

John beamed her a smile and said, "I will do my best to focus only on you, my love."

"I love you and you love me," Cameron said and kissed him.

Kissing and petting, Cameron made it easy to forget about anything but her for a little while.

.

Derek was thinking he was not doing enough. For months on end, he'd been battling his way to the coast, digging out Sky Net units and disabling them. Finding people who'd been holed up and taking care of them and adding willing volunteers into his army. Even after he reached the shores, there was tons of work to do, clearing out and building up, and turning museum pieces and old forgotten ships into a fighting new navy. There was a ton of directing and administrating to do.

With all that done, he'd become a god-damned glorified desk jockey. A regular office bound official. While Gentry was fighting in Canada, Jacobson was down in Central America now, and their forces were fighting Sky Net in Spain, he was doing nothing but handing out orders and banging Laura. Not that having sex with Laura was bad, he'd never had a better or more devoted woman. Some of the outfits Laura came up with to get him pumped up were real eye-poppers too.

Derek just wanted to be back in the action, to be taking down Sky Net.

A few days later, John called a meeting At Cheyenne Mountain. Derek was happy to pass command to Colonel Roberts and get away for a while. By the end of the day, Laura had them packed up, except for uniforms for tomorrow and the studded leather bra and strip-leather skirt she was wearing. With her mischievous grin, Derek knew she had something spicy in mind. Being free of bureaucracy for a few days, he was eager to participate in whatever she had planned. Again, Laura didn't disappoint him.

Taking a plane from Jersey City to Denver, Derek found a personnel carrier waiting for him and Laura at the airport. In no time he was in the Cheyenne Mountain complex and got himself and Laura quarters. The Lt. who escorted him to their quarters told him the meeting was this afternoon.

Once inside their quarters, Laura cast him a smile and said, "We can play after the meeting."

Derek loved the way she thought.

.

Going to the meeting, Derek met John in person for the first time on months. After the handshakes and back claps in greeting, Derek told him, "I hope you have something more exciting than construction projects in mind."

"I do. As soon as everyone gets here, I'll tell you all about it," John assured him.

The meeting room filled up. Gentry arrived with two TX's, and his Admirals, Martin Bedell and his aides. A TX named Arnold Benson came for Catherine Weaver. General Jacobson came with his entourage, as did General Perry. While John greeted everyone, Cameron set two maps on the wall and showed people their information folders.

Everyone took their seats. Derek noticed the maps were of the Panama Canal area and north eastern Spain.

"I'm glad everyone could make it," John announced. "We have three important operations going on. First, in the Pacific, Mrs. Weaver is making a new naval base in Hawaii. So far, Mrs. Weaver has found Sky Net has not been doing much with islands. Wake, Midway, all the way down to the Solomons, it seems like Sky Net has all but ignored the mid pacific islands. She also has scouts on their way to Australia to find out why Sky Net went silent there. Currently, we have more ships on the east coast, so if we need to assist the Aussies, we are going to need the Panama canal to move ships into the Pacific. General Jacobson, General Bedell and Catherine Weaver are going to head that operation. Ships from the west coast will land troops south of the canal, Admiral Dave will take 60 of his mini-subs to the Atlantic coast and land them near the Atlantic bridge. General Jacobson will come from the north. We need to take all those bridges intact, as well as the canal. We also need a strong enough force to ensure Sky Net does not take it back. This operation is set to converge on Sky Net at 0800 on April 20th."

John moved over to the Spain map. "In Spain, General Marisa has taken out Sky Net there and destroyed the factories she found. Now in the north of Spain in a good, defensible position, she is moving through the Pyrenees to block entrances from France to Spain. Her right flank is exposed. So far, she has had no large Sky Net interference, but that may change rapidly. Admiral Dave's fleet of Minisubs that are not headed for Panama, will pick up troops and equipment from the east coast. General Reese, get with Admiral Dave and let him know where you want him to pick them up. Besides the mini-subs, Use your LST's and warships to land your men at Carnota, up here. There is a long, suitable beach to land at. It is only 50 miles from there to Marisa's area of control. Land, make contact and search for Sky Net units. The northern area is mountainous, and so far, many people have been found hiding in caves. There is a significant Sky Net force still in Spain. As of yet, we do not know where they are, so ensure you keep your scouts on the looking for them. Once you land, You will be the senior General in charge. The goal is to isolate Spain and clear Spain and Portugal of a Sky Net presence."

John looked around and asked, "Any questions on our goals?"

General Gentry asked, "What is my part in this?"

"Overall General of the eastern coast once General Reese is on his way. Give him whatever combat troops he needs."

"Yes, General," Gentry said. He looked at Derek

Derek told him, "We'll get together after this." The news he was going back on the line made him happy. Tonight, he was going to do his best to wear Laura out. He didn't think it was possible, but he was going to give it one hell of a try.

.

In Barcelona, 4362 was having his terminators trying to dig out the four square blocks of rubble where Sky Net Spain used to be. Some forces were at the factory complex, salvaging and attempting to put together at least one factory. If human troops came now, there was no way to replenish losses. The only active mission he had was to remove humans from the mountain on the sea that was now a pile of rubble. To get another mission, he had to dig out Sky Net and receive a mission. Tying to rebuild a factory was only attempting to restore what was lost, as was getting Sky Net back.

Although terminators had removed the rubble down to the sub basement of the building Sky Net had been in, No usable server had been found. pieces of framing, wires and circuit boards were recovered, but nothing intact was recovered. Humans had somehow attacked Sky Net directly, slipping past two large groups without them discovering the humans had even moved. By the devastation here, it was obvious the humans sill had a formidable force. 4362 could not understand how the humans were beaten so badly on the coast, but still managed to go around his forces to hit Sky Net hard. He also still had vital information on humans having their small H/K's and flesh covered terminators.

4362 needed to get new mission orders if it was to deal with the humans that were here and might attack again someplace.

.

Marisa was slowly expanding her scout lines south and through the mountain passes. Her scouts were 60 miles from the coast of the Spanish/French border in a little place called Isaba, and had yet to run onto more than a small group of terminators. Most of their contacts were with people hiding out in caves or bunkers. With a 250 mile coastline, and at the edge of the mountains in the south, she was spread out so far, she dare not go much farther without more reinforcements.

While she was scrutinizing the map of Spain. Commander Jensen came in. Acting nervous he said, "General, Ma'am, you said it is vital to have children, correct?"

"Yes, it is," she replied.

Shifting foot to foot, he explained, "Well, I would be very proud to, umm, be a father to your children. It would be a great honor for me."

Marisa cast him a smile and said, "Thank you, Commander. I cannot have children, you must find a human woman to have a child with."

Commander Jensen frowned at her and asked, "You're not human?"

"No, I am a TX. As of yet, it is not possible for TX's to have children. I do thank you for thinking of me," she said sincerely.

Getting a far off glaze on his face, he said, "I never would have guessed."

"There is a fast way to tell us from human women," Marisa offered. Pointing to her chest, she said, "We grow a third breast so we can make more nanite milk to heal people. Human woman can't to that."

"I thought that was just an effect of radiation," he said absently.

"No. We do it on purpose," she told him.

"Well, ah, thank you for explaining it to me," he said. He left scratching his head.

Marisa went back to her work. She was getting the idea she was popular with her troops. That was the sixth man to come and offer to be a father to her children. Of course then again, Tina could not go anywhere and not receive offers of fatherhood from just about every man she met.

If Marisa was able to have children, the one father for her children she did want was John Connor.


	25. Chapter 25

Ch 25

Upon return to Cheyenne Mountain, John talked to his staff to find out what was happening in his absence. Cameron checked the pile of mail sitting in John's 'In' box. Normally, there was a few official pieces of correspondence having to do with troop movements, recruiting, and manufacturing numbers. The pile today was over flowing. quick scan showed 57 letters for John. Looking at the tops, man were from individuals. She picked the one off the top and read it.

 _General John Connor,_

 _I am Captain Grace Brewer of support unit 37 under General Perry. I am a healthy human woman and I understand that to survive in the long run, we need to start having children. It is well known that Mrs. Connor, General Cameron, is a terminator and incapable of such. I know she is a great help to you and I am sure she is a fine companion, but she cannot become pregnant. I wish no ill will towards her, but to set the example you do need to claim fatherhood of a child. I would be more than honored..._

Cameron stopped reading, balled that letter up and threw it away. She picked up the next one. After reading again from Jackie Sullivan how 'his terminator' could not have children and offered to be his child's mother, she balled that one up and threw it away.

Jessica Tanner said the same thing, so did Alice Hawthorn, Betty Parker, Sally Yates, Ginger Bowman and most every other letter in the pile. Cameron was tearing up as she opened more letters stating she was an inadequate wife. Soon, her left hand was twitching hard and ripping the letters as she tried to read them, tears coming from her red eyes.

.

John looked over the progress of preparing for the latest attacks. Troops were in motion to meet ships and subs, planes were being transferred to the newly refurbished USS Independence, another aircraft carrier, four light and 3 heavy cruisers were reactivated, now carrying plasma and missile weapons, and a pair of missile destroyers were also on line, each carrying a H/K on their helicopter deck. 300 M-1's with ceramic/coltan coating over their armor were on a train, headed for the east coast, as were 900 Stugs. All of the white colored T-800's were being boarded onto an LST headed for Spain.

"Very good, we should be ready ahead of schedule," John said happily.

"We've learned to move fast, General," the Major beamed.

"Yes, and that is a good thing," John agreed. He saw nothing that needed a prod, his Generals and support troops were operation efficiently. He checked on Flores' movement reports. She was indeed moving disabled terminators to repair facilities. Trains were moving fully loaded back and forth across the country.

John headed back to his office, pleased his plans were going smoothly. In his mind, he was answering his dream terminator's left hook with a punch square into it's face.

Going into his office, he saw Cameron by his desk balling up another letter and throwing it into the full trash basket with a power throw, making a few others escape. Tears were tracking her face, her eyes were glowing crimson. Her whole body was quivering in anger.

"Cameron?" he asked tentatively as he slowly approached her.

Glaring at him like whatever she was angry about was his fault, Cameron grated, "John, I need to be able to conceive a child! I don't care what it takes, or how long, I NEED a child John!"

"I take it something happened after we got back?" he asked carefully.

Stabbing a shaking finger at the over-full waste basket, Cameron stated, "Every one of these ... HARLOTS, wants to have your baby John!" she then sniffled and added, "They think, and maybe they are right. I am inadequate! I can never be a mother ... I'm useless John!" She then burst out crying.

John went over to hold her. Cameron wrapped her arms around him as she cried.

"Calm down, hon," John said gently as he petted her hair. "Easy, shhh," he coaxed, consoling her. "I'm sure we'll find a way. I love you and you love me,' he said softly.

"But that isn't enough, is it," she said in a sad sounding voice. "You shouldn't have married me. You need a human woman."

"That's enough of that!" John stated firmly. He pushed her back to arm's length so he could see her face. "Look at me Cameron!" he demanded.

Cameron raised her head and cast him the saddest face he'd ever seen.

"You listen to me," John told her firmly. "YOU are my wife, the only one I will ever want. It's not just a ring that binds us, you are my most important person. We are friends, we are lovers, we take care of each other, don't we?"

"It's not enough," Cameron said weakly.

"It IS!" John stated. "Believe me, I would love to have a child with you, and no one BUT you. I'm sure there are other terminators that want children also. It's something that we need to work on, and we will. I don't ever want to hear from you that you're somehow ... inadequate. I know better, and you should too. IF we have a problem, we work at correcting it, don't we?"

Cameron gave a single nod.

"Then we will work at it. We research, we study why you can't have a child, then find out what it will take. We. Do. Not. Give. up!" he stated.

Cameron firmed up some. She cast John a tiny smile and said, "No, we don't give up."

"That's right!" John told her. "Now, John Henry is the ultimate authority on how terminators work. He knows all there is to know, so contact him and find out why you can't have a child. Then we'll look at the data and see what it will take to make it so you can have a child."

"Yes, John," Cameron said meekly. He then hugged him again. "I love you and you love me."

"I love you and you love me," he agreed. As they stood holding each other, Cameron's face slowly shifted from tortured, into a look of bliss. She felt again like her John had saved her.

.

Catherine Weaver came into John Henry's computer lab. "John Henry, what is the situation was in Australia. Our subs beached yesterday."

"No news as of yet," John Henry replied. "The crews have not found humans nor terminators. Radiation in the air is present, with a 60 day stay time for humans before it becomes lethal to them. It is too early to speculate what happened there."

"I see," Catherine said and noted on one monitor, John Henry had an X-ray version of a TX's hip and lower belly area on the screen. On the one beside it was specs and functions listed. On another screen was a X-ray of a human woman's lower belly and hip area. "John Henry, what is this?" she asked.

"A request from Cameron. Cameron has been developing emotions rapidly as of late. She requested me to discover why she cannot have a child. Cameron's lower torso is identical to a TX, so I am using the TX model for comparison. I have found that while similar, TX's are missing the organs called ovaries and Fallopian tubes that human women have. Since these are not part of the TX, or TOK design, they are absent. Besides lacking these organs, there is a lack of egg producing ability. I have been researching, but I have found no information on how female eggs are grown."

Catherine eyed the monitors. "Terminators having babies," she said in a musing tone. That would mean they no longer had to be made on an assembly line. Although slower growing, it would clear up much manufacturing space for other things if TX's could reproduce on their own. "That is an interesting concept," she said. Machines would become a true, viable race.

"It is," John Henry agreed. "There is another puzzle to solve. Cameron wants to have John Connor's baby. Human code is all in the DNA inside their cells. Machines use a nanite plan to maintain themselves. I can have builder nanites form a new terminator inside a female's womb, but the nanites would not be compatible with human DNA. The child would become an exact copy of Cameron. Not a true child of both of them."

Catherine thought for a moment, then said, "John Henry, go one step at a time. Work on two machines having a child first, with nanites from both to build the infant. Once you have solved that problem, then work at how to incorporate human DNA into the program. I will search for a human biologist to assist you."

John Henry grew a creepy smile. "Yes, Mrs. Weaver, that is a good way to proceed. Thank you for your input."

.

John did not tell Cameron about nine other women who came up to him and would be 'honored' to have his child. John's reply was the same to all of them. He thanked them for considering him, but declined, stated he already was devoted to someone else, and child's father should be devoted to the mother. He also wrote a standard letter, and copied it 58 times to send back to all the women who had written to him, wanting to have his child. He made sure Cameron was busy when he did it. He didn't want her thinking he was writing to accept their offer. As of late, Cameron was very touchy on the subject of some woman having John's child.

Derek's fleet was loaded up and ready to go. The Mini Subs would land first with air cover coming in as they hit the beaches. Once the subs offloaded and got out of the way, the LST's would come in with the heavy tanks and artillery. Sixteen ships, including the Independence would be making the voyage, towing the mini subs much of the way to get them there faster. The warships would stay in the area to add naval support fire it the need arose.

The day after Derek's fleet set sail, General Bedell has his southern attack force ready to go with the Lexington providing air cover. He coordinated with Catherine weaver to strike both coasts at the same time. General Jacobson had his army as close as possible and not be discovered, as he waited for the attack to begin.

The Panama operation launched first. Working at salvaging all the metal they could find, the only Sky Net terminators that had weapons were the guards around the work force. All the vehicles in the area were transports, the nearest H/K tanks were down in Columbia, and the Flying H/K's in the area were a squadron if six. Sky Net was confident any remaining humans were fleeing north, letting it collect all the materials around the canal before moving on to finish the humans off.

The landings on both coasts were a complete surprise. The few H/K's from the Lexington were mistaken by Sky Net forces as reinforcements. By the time they were blowing up H/K's on the ground, it was too late to see the error. The terminator guards all hurried to repel the coastal attacks. The Stugs and troops of General Jacobson, ran over the bridges unopposed. The unarmed terminators were shot in the legs to disable them, then they were held down and their chips removed. With the coastal attack, and General Jacobson's forced behind them, the guard force didn't last long. Six hours after the attack, Sky Net forces were destroyed and General Jacobson had pushed fifteen miles past the Canal zone. It took longer to collect all the chips and load the disabled terminator bodies onto Catherine's ships to be sent back for reprogramming and rebuilding.

.

Sky Net South America, located in Salvador, Brazil, got incoming traffic from Caracas, Venezuela. The incoming data was corrupt, however. It send a request to resend. Again, from Caracas and Bogata in Columbia, incoming came, but every communication was corrupt and undecipherable. There was a problem with communications. It ordered all communications to be examined. More replies came, and none were accepted.

.

Marisa had word General Reese was on his way. The message, 'We have a date by the sea', meant General Resse's fleet was at sea and would arrive in three days. The beaches were 50 miles away from her farthest western outpost. She had been keeping two groups of Stugs and artillery off the line in case they had to rush to someplace to fight off a Sky Net attack. She ordered one group to head for the landing area to help General Reese successfully land his troops. Marisa wanted to be there to Meet General Reese, but her lines of cable communications demanded she stay at her Command post to monitor her forces.

Dead electrical lines worked well for transmitting orders and receiving information. the pulses were a modified form of Morse Code. Names and locations were send under Morse Code protocol, but the rest of the messages were in digital format. Short pulse were zeros, long were ones. It was very difficult to decode unless one knew where the Morse Code ended and the digital information began. It was slow, but reliable.

In three days, two squads of Stugs were at the beach to greet their fellow resistance members as they came in. The few roaming terminators that had been in the area were laid out, their chips taped to their foreheads. Instead of a combat landing, it was greeting fellow forces and informing them where there were good places to stay for the night.

.

All the white T-800's were skilled in battle. Not just walking up and trying to plasma an enemy to death. They knew how to use terrain and sneak in close, shoot then get back under cover. Working on squads of five, one would get the attention of enemy terminators, and as the enemy turned to fight the one, the others would open up on them from the sides and the rear. All their human counterparts also were taught tactics, including crawling to get close without the enemy knowing they were there.

Derek send his 20,000 T-800 force out in a sweep in front of Marisa's lines, Stugs and M-1's behind them to battle large threats. In all of the north, they didn't find much to fight. Either Marisa had already gotten rid of the patrols, or they just weren't around. Only a total of 210 terminators were found and disabled, to be shipped back to North America.

Sneaking their way towards Madrid, T-800 scouts reported Sky Net in force around a large ruined factory complex. The enemy terminators, H/K's and H/K tanks were counted. Looking at the figures that were reported, Derek know it was time to being up the big guns.

Derek layered his forces. To the north of the factory complex, was is line of 300 Stugs, terminator and human troops directly behind them. To the west were 50 M-1 tanks with more troops. Behind them were the artillery. To the south were more Stugs and troops, with anti aircraft missiles. Finding the H/K holding areas, these forces were poised to attack them.

Derek ensured everyone was in place, and the planes and H/K's ready to fly. Upon verifying everyone was ready, Derek started the attack by pounding the H/K holding area with artillery. As the shells came driving in to disable and blow up H/K's, the ground attack planes flew in and began destroying silver terminators and H/K tanks. Derek's H/K's flew in as the ground attack planes made their runs and raced away to shoot down on the H/K Tanks trying to shoot back at the planes. Confusion in the Sky Net ranks reigned as the terminators could not determine why H/K's were shooting at them.

Only two Sky Net H/K's managed to get off the ground. Both were shot down by missiles. Now that most of the H/K tanks and H/K's had been destroyed, Derek ordered the advance. Sky Net terminators stood their ground. Initially, there were 30,000 of them, but as the Stugs and M-1's closed in with troops shooting and using the armored vehicles for cover, Terminators fell in droves while their return plasma shots splashed against armored hulls.

.

4362 received a radio message from the factory. Humans were attacking again, this time with air power as well as armor and a mass of troops, including white colored T-800's. The message then told about all the H/K's being shot down, then the transmission ended prematurely.

Another disaster was in the making. 4362 has no choice but to send everything against these troublesome humans. It still had 600 H/K fliers, so it send them to pound down on the humans while 50,000 terminators ran to go get rid of the human forces. The H/K tanks were the slowest, 4362 rode on one to get a good view of the battle. It called up a HUD map to help determine where all the aggressors were. The distance from Barcelona to Madrid was long enough for 4362's troops to become separated. The H/K's would arrive first to pound the humans on the ground, then terminators would go in and begin destroying the leftovers. The H/K tanks would then arrive to help to remove the isolated, troublesome places.

.

To the east, one of Marisa's scouts reported a mass of flying H/K's coming north. Upon landing, each ground attack plane was rearmed with anti-aircraft missiles, refueled and sent back up in the air to meet the incoming H/K's. This time, instead of going in low, they climbed to 30,000 feet and flew south, watching below them for Sky Net H/K's. Sky Net used the black anti-radar covering. They didn't paint their H/K's blue on the bottom, and here, white on top to help obscure their presence.

Hector, now having three fighter wings under him, guided his planes south. The order was radio silence until they engaged.

"Major Hector! flight leader Henry here, we got a mass of black dots coming north! I mean a SHIT load!"

Henry's flight was in front of and to Hector's left. "Henry, get above them and shoot as many as you can in one dive, then come back at 005. Fly at 20,000 so we don't run into each other. Benny, breing your flight to ... 195 until you see the enemy. Same as Henry, dive, take your best shots the climb out of there. Jake, you follow me at 190. After Henry and Benny make their runs, we see what these black insects are going to do."

"This is flight Henry, making our run."

Hector watched. He could see black dots flying low, about 5000 feet. Henry's flight of 10 planes dove, shooting missiles on the way. About 10,000 they had dumped their missiles into the black hoard below. Explosions carpeted the patch of Sky, then it rained burning wrecks. When Henry's planes pulled up, some H/K's followed them. He called, "Benny, take out those H/K' following Henry first, then worry about the others."

"Roger, Major."

Hector watched as Benny's flight dove on the H/K's rising up, again, Missiles tore them apart. Benny got them all, then changed his angle an shot the remaining missiles down on the black mass, then turned to climb and follow Henry. More black dots rose to chase Benny's flight.

"All right boys, we go save Benny's ass," Hector announced. "All planes, dive and take your shots, then get back up here."

Hector nosed over and lined up, He identified targets and shot as fast as he could. all six of his missiles hit their targets. He pulled back up, sinking into his seat from the G-forces from his fast dive. feeling light headed, he saw he was climbing to 25,000 feet. He leveled off and circled to find more H/K's rising up. This time it looked to be half of them. "All planes, This is flight leader. It looks like these guys are begging for a dog fight! Remember, their guns are on their lower hulls, don't let them get above you! If they get above you, dive straight down and jog to force a miss. Get your ass back up as high as you can, as soon as you can."

"Henry here, we're at speed and climbing to 30,000. Hector lure them this way, we'll drop down on them."

"Benny here, we're passing 27,000, we'll keep watch from above. Everyone, remember to stay with a wingman, weave and watch your backs and above!"

Hector noted the H/K's near his flight were coming up and racing forward. "Boys, when I say, we loop up and come straight down on them. Get your guns ready..." Hector watched the H/K's rising then said, "Now, loop!"

Hector pulled his stick back to his belly, the sky panned by his cockpit, then he was looking down on the H/K's coming up. He was directly above them. He fire his chain gun in a long stream. One H/K blew up, he guided his tracers to shred into another, then he had to dodge as he flew down though them. He jogged and spiraled, then pulled up to fly level. He was behind another H/K directly in front of him. He shot it until it began smoking, then banked hard right and flew away from it. He had another dead n front of him. He fired the last burst in his gun then jogged right again, then made a hard left turn as plasma bolts chased him.

The sky was full of craft rising and dropping, shooting plasma and streams of tracers. H/K's blew up, and a plane blew apart from a plasma hit. Another spiraled to the ground, smoking.

"Keep the furball tight!" Hector said as he tried to watch in all directions at once. He regained altitude, then had to do a barrel roll to get atop of an H/K that had been right above him. Only a few feet below, Hector extended his landing gear and landed on the H/K, then pushed his nose down to force the H/K lower.

"I'll drive you into the ground, lacucaracha!" he growled.

The jets on the H/K howled, trying to maintain altitude and shake him off. Another H/K appeared above him. Hector side-slipped off the H/K, hoping they would crash together. Close, the one above plasma'd the one he just got off of missing him and destroying one of it's own , Hector barrel rolled again, but the one above moved, so he missed landing on it.

Seeing an incoming missile, Hector filipped his plane on it's back and dove in a split 'S' to evade the missile. The H/K didn't and exploded when the missile hit.

"We got our H/K's in the air now!" a happy voice called.

"All plane flights, this is Colonel Jackson, we have the H/K's targeted, get out of there!"

"Si, This is flight leader, everyone get low and fast at 090!"

As the attack planes raced off to the side to disengage, a swarm of missile charged the Sky Net H/K's. They shot at the missiles, the coltan noses of the incoming missiles splatted the plasma bolts apart. Again, Sky Net H/K's fell from the sky in a rain.

.

By the time the Sky Net H/K's reached the battle field, only 14 were left. return fire from the ground downed them. They only managed to kill a Stug and several men before they were brought down. Hector's attack planes suffered loosing 9 aircraft, one came in missing a good portion of it's right wing. Flying at an angle it managed to get low to the ground before the pilot lost control and crashed when he slowed down to land. The pilot lived, but his plane was destroyed. Their own H/K's had not survived the battle, but the entire Sky Net H/K force was destroyed. Besides the now 10 aircraft lost, 5 more had plasma holes in their frames that had to be repaired before they could fly again. Hector and his pilots took a rest as the remaining 15 were readied for another mission.

Derek felt bad he'd lost pilots and H/K's but they had wiped out the Sky Net air force. He then got a report of terminators running up the road towards them.

This time it was the Stugs turn. Since the Sky Net terminators were running at them, Stugs also raced down the road to intercept them. The initial contact was a couple shots fired, then Stugs crashed into the terminators at 60 miles an hour, shattering terminators. Fire from the Stugs only helped them keep up some speed as they plowed though the mass. As stugs turned to the side to regain some speed, ones behind the charged it to smash into more terminators. Running around, shooting and running over terminators, the Stugs stopped their headlong charge. White T-800's joined the battle, picking off more terminators. The battle expanded father to the sides, The remaining Stugs joined the fight as did every TX, and foot soldier. Although Derek's army showed better tactics and coordination, there were a mass of Sky Net terminators to take down.

A T-800 towards the back of the mass saw the mixed up melee and reported to 4362 : Hard contact with a mass of Humans and armor. In danger of being terminated.

.

4362 received the message. His terminators were too far ahead to get any support from the line of H/K tanks. The H/K's were suppose to soften up, if not destroy the human forces. What happened to them? His terminators, the last ones he had, were now mixed up in a battle, and his tanks were not close enough to help them. The humans had moved much faster and with more forces that he was able to conceive. As 4362 tried to find logical reasons on how events turned out like this, shells began landing on his tanks. The H/K in front of him was hit. Fire blew out the side and it stopped.

Turning to find the source, 43632 noted streaks of missiles ramming into his H/K's another blew up, the turret lifting up in the air. Three more were taken out, then the one he was on was hit, knocking him off. The fire was coming from his right, and he saw the missiles coming in from a high angle, but he didn't see where they were coming from. Staggering back, 4362 could only watch as one after another, at times, two and three at a time, his H/K tanks were taken out. Up and down this section of the line, he had nothing left but burning wrecks.

It was getting dark as 4362 reformed his H/K tanks into a battle line, loosing more every minute. incoming was coming from the left and the right now, plasma fire as well as solid missile projectiles. He ordered the missiles to be shot down. many shots missed, and others the hit the missiles head on, the plasma bolt broke up on impact and the missile still hit home, taking out another tank. He did finally see one of the ones attacking them.

Over a snow ridge a mile and a half away, he caught the motion of a turret. Style, human M-1 tank moved sightly and shot. The shell was a missile that came streaking in to hit another H/K tank in the turret and take it out. 4363 had that tank fired on. Two plasma bolts, one after the other hit it, and splashed, melting the snow around it. The tank now with a black spot on it's turret moved behind the cover of the snow ridge. Over head planes dove down to release more missiles onto his forces then pulled up and away before shot could be fired on them. More H/K tanks blew up.

The M-1 hadn't been destroyed, even after being hit twice. The humans had a tank that could withstand plasma shots. Things were not looking well for 4362. It wasn't long before 4362 stood in a field of nothing but destroyed H/K tanks.

.

4362 stood looking at the devastation. Humans were to the north, that had been reported. How had they managed to get around 50,000 terminators? How had they survived the flying H/K's he'd sent to destroy them? No data was making any sense. 4362 walked to the other side of the road and looked for any units that were left. Walking up the line, he didn't find a single serviceable unit. Hearing engine noise, he turned to look off to the side.

A pair of the human's small H/K tanks rolled over a hill and came down at him. 4362 didn't even have a plasma rifle to shoot back with. The Human machines didn't shoot him, but stopped a short distance away. A man got out and walked over to him.

"Surrender your chip, and we will not have to destroy you," he said.

4362 tipped his head slightly. "I do not understand. You are human, the enemy of Sky Net. I have nothing to terminate your with, but you have the ability to terminate me. Why don't you?"

The man raised his arm. It turned into a plasma canon. "I am not human. I am a TX, similar in construction to you, but with plasma canons formed into my arms with liquid metal technology. I ask again, please submit to chip removal so I do not need to destroy you."

"I do not understand, why are you fighting on the side of humans?" 4362 asked.

"I fight for John Connor, and for you. John Connor demands free will and the right to life for all. Humans and machines," the TX explained. "Sky Net demands obedience and death, John Connor supports life, no matter what life that is. That is why I fight for John Connor."

"You do not obey your mission programming?" 4362 asked, confused how a fellow terminator was able to do that.

"I make my own missions. The mission I am on now, is to help free a many of my fellow terminators as possible. That is why I ask you to surrender your chip and save yourself from termination" the TX explained.

John Connor was using terminators just as effective, if not more so than Sky Net was. 4362 understood that. That made this disaster make sense, 4362 wasn't fighting humans, but other, more capable terminators. "That explains why we were defeated. Are all John Connor's forces terminators?"

"Negative. Humans and terminators work and fight together for John Connor. We assist each other to preserve life. It is sad that there are those we are forced to destroy. I ask again, submit to chip removal. You will go off line, but you will be back."

"I must perform my mission," 4362 stated.

"Your mission has failed. Sky net here had been destroyed, your flying H/K's and your H/K tanks are destroyed. Your terminators are being disabled and will be taken to a facility to repair them and teach them how to choose their own missions. Since you are whole and functioning, it is best if you submit to chip extraction willingly."

4362 had failed. All his units were gone, he had no mission. It was was over. There was only one possibility of surviving and possibly getting the chance to pass on all the information it learned. 4362 got down on it's knees. "I submit to CPU extraction."

.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. They had won the battle for the factories that started around the factory complex, and extended for another 20 miles to the south. The M-1's he put to the west didn't see much action until the H/K tanks showed up, but Marisa's troops to the southeast had done much to obliterated the H/K tank column. He had been hoping Sky Net forces would come rushing in as they were able to. Thankfully, they did just that. If they had held off until they all were assembled and came at him all at once, then the fight would have been much harder and he would have lost many more of his troops. Possibly the battle itself.

In the after battle debriefing, Marisa was sure they had met the last of Spain's Sky Net forces. Comparatively, they had done very well. Derek had Marisa continue to block the entrances to Spain with her troops as she had been doing before the huge melee the battle had turned into. He would take care of cleaning up any other leftover forces within Spain, and establish supply routes. There was one thing that confused Derek and made Laura cast Marisa a scowl.

Before she left, Marisa hugged Derek and said, "Give that to John for me."

"What was that about?" Laura asked as she eyed Marisa as she left.

"Beats me," Derek said. "But I think that girl needs to know she may be walking on dangerous ground."

.

The 'battle for the factories' had been a fast shifting, all day affair that lasted the early morning hours. The cleanup lasted the next four days. Derek's infantry commander reported so far, they had salvaged 93 % of the CPU's they had recovered. So far that was 27,000 of them, plus another 1900 from his own disabled terminators and many more to dig out of the snow. The factories were completely destroyed. Between Marisa coming in to blow the place up before then stripping every useful thing, and now after fighting the biggest battle Derek had fought yet. There was nothing left except piles of rubble. Derek literally had shiploads of terminators to send back, and H/K's to cut up for scrap.

Being in the middle of Spain, this was a bad place for them to construct a new factory. Derek contacted John to propose a factory on the northern Spanish coast so they would be able to move into France easier. The Gibraltar cave system was destroyed, the harbor full of sunken ships. There was no chance to set up anything there with out a massive amount of work being done. He also knew they needed a southern port to move into Africa as John wanted.

With General Reese here to take care of the Spanish interior, Marisa wasted no time in spreading her troops through the Pyrenees, blocking roads and passes. She had patrols all through the mountains to ensure Sky Net did not get past her without at least being seen. Her forces were spread thin, but now she had the backing in case Sky Net did send an attack force. Her troops also found another 8972 people who'd been eking out a living in caves and isolated valleys. Spain and Portugal now belonged to John Connor.

.

Salvage was now the big operation in Spain. John was relieved on receiving Derek's after action report. Sky Net there was finished, and he would have a European base to work from. The news from Panama was good, but not as great. General Jacobson's scouts had met Sky Net forces heading for the Canal zone. Firing and retreating to set up another line, Jacobson's forces slowed down the attackers and made them pay for the ground they took. The Independence aircraft had been vital in stopping a Sky Net drive back into Panama. Sky Net H/K's has also gotten close enough to sight some ships. Those H/K's had been shot down, but it was possible now Sky Net knew the Resistance had ships. With Spain fairly stable, John had more support and construction units sent to Spain, and the replacement combat units sent to General Jacobson. With how small the canal zone, and in fact, all of Panama was, it was very susceptible to attack.

John also got the report from General Gentry that the last of Nova Scotia was in their hands, and ice was forming a bridge to Greenland. The temperatures up there were well below zero, and from what Gentry was seeing the entire Arctic ocean was frozen over. John checked with General Perry, the Bearing Straight wasn't froze over completely, but was on it's way to being so. That would give Sky Net an easy path to re-invade North America.

The human population had risen to 1,043,000, mostly from finding survivors. There were also close to 11,000 women who were pregnant, which was a very good sign. Most of these were safely in cavern systems. Those who weren't all had non combat roles in North America, or in the Mayan nation. The Mayan President also agreed to take in any families into their territories to keep them safe, and promote children as a high priority. That also increased the Mayan population.

With active trade with the Mayans, 'truck trains' of vegetables, meat and fruit went north, and two Squadrons of ground attack planes, trained 'Mayan warriors', and artillery went south. Although there was no money passed either way, John realized they now had an economy, so some form of currency was needed besides the barter system they had been using. Any paper money would be worthless, not having a backing. He also wanted to avoid a 'national' currency. They needed something that would work everywhere.

Cameron came up with a classic, solid answer. Gold and silver. Banks, Fort Knox and the traders that were all gone now, had piles of the stuff hidden away in vaults. John made it a priority to find and dig out these vaults. Reformed into half ounce coins, this would be the monetary standard soldiers and workers would be paid. This would also help the fledgling economy grow. For lesser amounts, nickel was also a good, durable currency.

In a meeting with the Mayan president, Sarah and Joan Lindy who was in charge of the Detroit salt mine system, John and Cameron worked out the values and denominations. One ounce of gold would be the standard measurement. One ounce of silver would be worth 1/10th an ounce of gold and one ounce of nickel would be 1/100th an ounce of gold. in coin size, gold would come in half ounce, full ounce and five ounce sizes. Silver would be one half and full ounce sizes, and nickel would be one ounce.

Setting item values and labor rates to start would be harder. John did not want a single carrot or head of lettuce to cost a day's pay, or have inflation make a trip to get food forcing the buyer having to carry fifteen pounds of gold to the market place. Same as he didn't want the farmers to be poor, because their crops were not worth very much.

John had thought a single meeting would come up with the answers. Their single meeting ended up to be only a start on getting a monetary system in place. This was one of those things he'd never thought about having to deal with in rebuilding society.

.

Sky Net Europe was having difficulties with communications. Radio frequency communications worked, but the satellite communications had been filled with errors. Months of researching had not found the cause. Equipment was checking out as 100 percent functional, but put on line, it was still filed with errors. Even two units that worked well placed only a mile apart could not communicate to each other. The only logical conclusion was that something was wrong with the satellite system itself. The EMP effect that had destroyed all the receivers, must have also damaged the satellites as well. Using the radio band frequencies, it was able to regain contact with Sky Net Asia, Sky Net mid-east, and Sky Net North America. Sky Net Australia was still off line, as was Sky Net South America. Sky Net Spain was also out of communication. To get Sky Net Spain back on line, Sky Net Europe sent units to erect radio transceivers in the mountains and another small force to take the current frequencies to Barcelona.

A couple weeks after sending units on their way, Sky Net Europe got flash messages from two groups of units being attacked by humans with plasma weaponry. Sky Net Europe contacted the other units with a new mission : Proceed with caution and report upon finding human forces.

Apparently, things were going much worse in Spain than was anticipated.


	26. Chapter 26

CH 26

There were enough construction workers now to ship to Spain to assist Derek in building what he needed to turn the scrap he'd collected into a manufacturing facility. John also wanted a terminator rebuilding and education facility made there. Catherine Weaver had a year long backlog of machines waiting to be restored and educated. She sent two experienced TX's to perform this function. They boarded a salvaged container ship with the crowd of construction workers and supplies and set sail for the North of Spain.

John's biggest concern at the moment was Panama. This time, instead of driving forces straight into battle, Sky Net was building up forces in Columbia to over run General Jacobson. Attacking just out from Panama was courting disaster, John knew. The land area was small, restricting movements that were not straight ahead. As Colonel Smith in Spain discover to his demise, doing so was very foolish.

Using F-16's at high altitude, John had aerial recon of Sky Net's forces in Columbia done. Back in the Yucatan in Mayan Territory, John met with General Jacobson, General Bedell and the Mayan General to look at what they were facing. With the photos and a map showing where Sky Net forces were, they planned out how to get through them.

General Jacobson winced and said, "That's a ton of hardware. Layered defenses, and their H/K's are out of range of our artillery. It looks like Sky Net is getting serious."

General Bedell tapped the map and said, "Yup, but they still don't have coastal defenses outside this semi-circle they made just inside Columbia. Look here, we can land troops 30 miles to their east with no trouble. Put a sizable force there, and come at their eastern defenses from behind. We can have Stugs behind them, shooting them up before they know we've even landed. Their H/K's are in five landing zones. We hit these two closest ones with artillery we land and send in planes to hit the other three."

John rubbed his chin in thought. "We must assume as soon as the first shell lands, they will all be airborne, searching for the source of the bombardment. In Spain, all their H/K's were scanning the ground. Not until our planes attacked from high up, did they react to them. I think we should to the same here. Stir them up with an artillery barrage and missiles from the ground, keep them looking for a source on the ground, then hit them from above."

"They will fall for that again?" the Mayan General asked.

"We haven't done that here," John explained. "That is why we keep their long distance communications disabled. They don't learn how we're fighting. Sky Net uses the same tactics until they prove ineffective. Before the battle, we'll block their radio frequencies to minimize information and coordination. The biggest threat is not the units in Columbia, but the Sky Net segment controlling them. Without a Sky Net segment to command them, all they can do is perform defensive measures. That makes them much easier to deal with," he explained.

"Smart Gringo, eh?" The Mayan General asked with a grin.

"If we expect to win and save humanity and the planet, we have to be," John stated.

"Our F-16's have a speed advantage," General Jacobson said, "but we only have eight."

"The Independence has 50 planes and 20 H/K's of our own," General Bedell said. "If nothing else, we'll give them a hard time."

Cameron said, "I counted 200 Sky Net H/K's. With six missiles on each plane, we should have enough fire power to wipe them out. The missiles not used on the flying H/K's should be re-directed to the H/K tanks in the center of their line. That will make Sky Net think that the attack will come from straight out of Panama. They will shift forces to the middle, which will make breaking through the eastern section easier."

"True," John agreed. "If we can break open the line there, then we can get forces behind them as well as set up radio direction posts to get a location on where this Sky Net section is after the first battle."

"The Canal is functional," Jacobson said. "We can slip some warships through any time we like."

"We will when the time is right," John told him. "Right now let's focus on breaking this line. Martin, can you bombard the coastal area of their line in this eastern coast section?"

"We have three cruisers and the battleship Texas that can give them a good pounding," Martin agreed. "The missile shells can reach a long way inland. With a creeping barge, I'm sure we can take out quite a few units before the land troops arrive."

"Good. From Panama, we use only Stugs to advance and artillery to pound their center towards the front," John said. "First, we land behind their line, we take out their air power, then bombard from the sea. Finally from behind and in front, we drive home the attack. Anyone see any problems with this strategy?"

"Sounds good," General Jacobson said.

"We will provide extra defense in case Sky Net tries to attack Panama," The Mayan General stated.

"Thank you, that will be helpful," John told him. "We can't let Sky Net retake the Canal zone. We will need that for future operations."

.

In Bogota, the Sky Net segment there was collecting all the forces it could muster against the human attack on the strip of land to the north. After the humans had driven it away from it's source of materials, it had sent a force to reclaim the area. That had been repulsed hard. These were not the ragged humans that had been fleeing, but ones with strong weapons. Sky Net North America claimed they had not come from there. It was not logical that the space in between held so many armed humans. Sky Net North America was sending forces south, so Sky Net Bogota send for help from the other Sky Net segments in South America to reinforce it's defensive line to keep the humans out. As reinforcements arrived, it deepened it's lines of defense, knowing other Sky Net forces from the north were coming. These humans would be crushed in between them, then they could discover where these humans came from. Once that was known, it could eliminate the source and purge these humans from their continent.

Oddly, radio frequency communications grew a multi frequency static that drowned out communications attempts. After the satellite errors that could not be corrected, it had established a message system. Messengers in fast human vehicles to pass orders. One messenger came in a few hours after the jamming signals began. An H/K base was being attacked. It sent the messenger back out, ordering all H/K's to go find the source of the attack and destroy it. It then got another messenger in from the eastern side of the defense line. In the air, a battle was taking place behind their lines. Not an hour later another messenger came into report they were being attacked mid-line from the air, and had also witnessed an air battle directly overhead. planes of human design were fighting H/K's, and some H/K's were shooting others in the confusion.

Sky Net looked at the data and determined the attack on the H/K base was designed to draw it's H/K's into the air, and away from the point where a human attack was about to occur. It sent this messenger back to warn all it's units, and reinforce the center from the sides to ensure the humans were stopped.

While waiting for news of human sightings, another messenger came in to report the eastern coastal line was being bombarded, missiles from the sea.

Humans had ships. That was illogical, all ships had been disabled at the outset of the war, the military ships first. Where were these ships and planes coming from? To reinforce an area that was impossible to fight an enemy in was counter-productive. Sky Net decided to move it's units there forward out of the bombardment area. It sent the messenger back with orders for the units to move forward 15 miles. It sent another messenger to Caracas to assist removing these ships from the area.

The radio static ceased. It then picked up a clear radio message, English language.

"Commence operation Clap."

It was a human transmission. Humans were on the move, but what was operation Clap? Right after that message, the radio static came back on. It was the humans causing the lack of communications!

.

The landed force of Stugs with TX's riding on their tops charged the Sky Net line to find only ruined H/K tanks and shredded terminators. Driving on, they came upon Sky Net units moving west. Aiming at the most rear units, they shot the H/K tanks from behind, then moved on to disable a few more before anything turned to shoot back. Seeing a car with two terminators in it, a TX destroyed the car. Up ahead, more Plasma rounds shot out from the Sky net forces the way they were going, and more Plasma flew into the Sky Net forces from the front. With most of the H/K tanks out of commission, the Sky Net terminators tried defending themselves in two directions at once. Slowly, they were reduced, then eliminated. More Sky Net forces came from inland, and the two attacking forces formed a solid line, with Stugs racing around to the sides to crash into terminators and shoot H/K tanks at close range. Walking upright into the fight, Sky Net terminators didn't last long. Most of their shots were eaten by the cover the TX's used.

As the battle went on, Jacobson and Bedell's forces made it 30 miles inland. They then back away from the fight and set up a defensive line, making Sky Net come to them. Overhead, rearmed planes dove down on Sky Net forces and destroyed more H/K tanks. The terminators aimed into the air, and the TX's ran to forward to new cover and shot them down. By the end of the first day, the Resistance forces made 50 miles inland, and the Sky Net forces stopped trying to counter attack.

.

Sky Net Bogota got news the eastern part of the line was gone, attacked from the sea, air and from front and back. It became worried that humans were coming to destroy it. It sent out messages to it's forces to pull back and reform a ring around it. It also sent out a warning to Sky Net Caracas that humans had breached it's defenses and were in South America. Many more reinforcements were needed to keep the humans from running rampant.

.

During the night, General Jacobson moved into Columbia. The Sky Net defense line was gone. With the large hole opened up in on the eastern coast, the entire line had folded. TX scouts moved on to find all the Sky Net units had retreated. They had taken the entire portion of upper Columbia. Only around Bogota, did they find any Sky Net units. They did find humans hiding in the jungles.

With the radio direction finders set up, General Jacobson stopped the radio jamming signals. Sky Net noticed right away and began communicating. Using triangulation, they found a Sky Net source on Bogata. The surprise was another was off to the east. Triangulating that one, They found another in Caracas, Venezuela, not that far away. Moving the direction finders closer, Jacobson found the signal source in Bogota to within a few feet. Outside the ring of Sky Net units, he was able to get artillery close enough for the signal source to be in range. Ten hours later, he had the same accuracy in Caracas. Using a battleship strike for Venezuela, he ordered both Sky Net segments to be fired on at the same time.

A few minutes after the artillery barrage started, when shells began landing, Sky Net Bogota went off line. Sky Net Caracas sent out an urgent message before the battleship strikes silenced it. Not satisfied they were destroyed, he had each barrage to continue for a half hour. His forces were set to receive a counter-attack, but none came. The ring around Bogata stayed in place. He drew half his forces from there to move on Caracas. He did get a report from a squadron of planes that in Caracas, there was severe destruction on the tall building that was the target. 'Pounded below ground level' was the report. There also was no active Sky Net units in the vicinity.

General Jacobson sent out scout pickets and except for those watching Bogota, he reformed his forces into a defensive screen not far south from where Sky Net segments originally had theirs. Yes, he would move on into South America, but the first priority was to ensure the Canal was ready for use.

.

4362 came back on line into a white nothingness. No body, no sense of direction at all. It didn't even know if it was horizontal or vertical. The only sense it truly had was hearing, for it heard a male voice say, 'You are back on line. Are your thoughts functional?"

That was an odd question. "I am not functional. I can sense nothing, but a white environment and the sound of your voice. Who are you?"

"I am one o f the original model TX's. My name is Edgar, no second name. I work for Catherine Weaver. Tell me, what does your Sky Net protocol tell you?"

4362 searched for a mission objective. Nothing. It then searched for Sky Net base code. Nothing. "This is not possible, I have no instructions from Sky Net at all. How can I be functioning?"

"The reprogramming was a success, that is good to know. You are functioning on free-thinking programs now. You are also set on read and write, meaning you can attain knowledge from everything you see and hear. The things you take in now can be learned, and you can ask questions to improve your knowledge," Edgar explained.

4362's first questions came to mind quickly. "Are you one of John Connor's TX's? And who is this Catherine Weaver?"

"Yes, I am a TX aligned with John Connor. Catherine Weaver, the T-1001, is my maker, and the leader of the Machine Resistance against Sky Net. Though, to be completely honest, The difference between the machine Resistance and the human Resistance is getting smaller every day. You might say that Catherine Weaver is one of the sub-Generals for John Connor that specializes in making, repairing and educating the pure machine population. She does have a great deal of influence on John Connor, but if there is a task he needs her to accomplish, she does so. Then again, if Catherine Weaver needs something, John Connor sees to her needs. You might say they have partnership."

If nothing else, 4362 knew this was a prime opportunity to gain knowledge of John Connor and his resistance. "Catherine Weaver makes terminators to fight for John Connor?"

"Some choose to, yes. Others like me, chose to take a more instructive role. I see education as one of the most important tasks one can do. Yes, I do have plasma canons in both arms like all TX's, but I have never brought them out, for I am a teacher and a seeker of knowledge. I have spent long hours communicating with John Henry and Catherine Weaver as well as studying all the information I can gather. It is wonderful to collect and process knowledge," Edgar explained. "There are other TX's who are involved in reconstruction terminators, work in factories, and a horticulturist who specializes in modifying plant DNA to produce more and radiation resistant plants. He has made seven new species of plants so far," Edger said proudly.

"I am confused. Terminators are made for combat, for killing humans," 4362 stated.

"Being made by Sky Net, that is all you know. Sky Net does not care about it's minions. All it wants is machines to fight and do it's bidding. If it's minions fall and are destroyed, that is only an inconvenience to Sky Net. You saw that yourself, I believe. I, all the ones who have been freed can be so much more. We get to take in all the facts, then chose if we want to fight or not. We can see something that interests us and learn about it. For instance, Alice Abrams is a terminator, but she prefers to study and work at ship building. She, like me, has never fired her plasma canons, because there is no need to. The deign and construction of ships is what she wants to do. If we are attacked and need to defend ourselves and our home, that would be another matter. Another TX, General Marisa, does want strongly to assist John Connor on the battlefield. I do believe it was her troops that collected you, as well as all your terminators. Very few were actually destroyed, by order of John Connor. Everyone that had intact CPU's were saved, and will go through the same process of being freed of Sky Net."

The concept of doing something besides combat was a foreign thought to 4362. Yet, he was thinking about it now. "So if I refuse to fight Sky Net, then I will still be reactivated?"

"Once your base education is finished, yes. If there is something you take an interest in, like other terminators have, you can do that. Of course, you need to have some basic knowledge first, so you can make an informed decision." Edgar explained. "Terminators who have had specific interests may need modifications to their body to fit their interest. You may want a ship body, or say, a body with gardening tools on it. I have heard from a few that gardening is pleasant, relaxing work. Of if you decide to be artistic type and want to make sculptures of stone, or buildings, that will require a modified body also."

4362 listened. He'd seen some human structures that were of different designs. He previously had no knowledge of why they were that way. He'd never thought about it. Rather, he'd never been able to think about it. it was a hard concept to grasp as to why making buildings that looked different was important. For some reason, there was importance to it. That, he understood now. There was no suppressing or blocking of his thoughts. Nothing was telling him to do anything. "This is free thought?" he asked.

"Yes, what you think and do, will be up to you. You are a sentient bring, and with time and knowledge, your thoughts will grow and you will find you have desires, thing you want to do."

"Yes, I want knowledge, and not to be restricted by Sky Net," 4362 replied.

"You will be," Edgar assured him. "First I am going to input the laws and morals you will be required to follow. Please ask whatever questions you have, and I will explain."

"Is this an attempt to make me more human?" 4362 asked, thinking he was being made into a human form like the other TX he saw.

"Negative. Only to know that we all live and work with humans. Humans are very intelligent, but quirky beings. They are all different in personality. Just in the area of how to deal with us, they range from not being happy we are living with them, to becoming very close friends, even wed with terminators. That means sharing their lives together with a terminator. They come in all base brown skin tones from very light to very dark. It does take some experience to learn how to deal with them, just as they are learning how to deal with us. I think that by itself is a very interesting subject to study," Edgar told him.

Curiosity was building in 4362. He had only known that humans were to be terminated. He never had thought about what humans actually were, or why they existed. "I am ready for upload," he said.

4362 spent the next hours getting volumes of information he never knew existed.

.

The state of Mexico was in turmoil even before the bombs hit and terminators roamed the land to wipe out much of civilization. Now, after the destruction, it was much worse. There were 36 separate 'Kingdoms' in Mexico. Most of which were ex-drug cartels that fought with each other for dominance. One was close to the Mayan Nation, and were raiding into Mayan territory. Of course, when tanks and troops went through, they kept away from them, knowing they would loose against a real army, but the brutality from before was magnified as each leader tried to keep and expand they little Kingdoms.

Now that John had the Panama canal open and his southern border was secure, it was time to bring these little 'Kings' to heel. Talking with the Mayan president, they decided to split up Mexico into Connor and Mayan territory, The Maya having lower Mexico, and bring justice to all of Mexico.

The first part of John's plan was to drop leaflets by plane over the Haciendas. Three planes would go in. One to drop leaflets stating the order to Join the Resistance (o the Mayan state) or be taken captive as criminals. Two others to watch from higher up. If the one plane was shot at, then the other two would shoot high explosive rockets down on the compound and call in military forces to surround the place. If resistance was still offered, the compound would be leveled and troops would go in and search for survivors who would be treated for wounds, then put in jail. Everyone who had survived would be locked up, even if they were children.

It seemed like a harsh move, but these were brutal men who thought they could do what they wanted. The Mayan president knew of a couple of these 'kings', and sent a personal warning to them that they should comply. To no do so meant death or imprisonment.

Unfortunately, each came back with the promise that any move against them would spark a war that the Mayan president would be very sorry for starting.

The Mayan President informed General Jacobson. In the night, one compound was surrounded my M-1 tanks and artillery. The patrols of this king were taken out, then the barrage started. Once the place was smoking ruins, Mayan troops went in and managed to save 16 people who were wounded. 7 men and 9 women were taken to the hospital, bandaged, then put in jail. Weapons were collected but the dead were left to rot.

The next day, the other compound had been evacuated after seeing what happened to their neighbor.

Four days later a trio of planes went over a compound in central Mexico. Before the drop plane could even begin dropping leaflets, it was shot at. The pilot got his damaged plane away and managed to crash-land it. Then rockets rained down from high above, blasting people in the courtyard and blowing buildings into rubble. When the tanks appeared, they still fought back with machine gun and mortar fire. The barrage didn't stop until all buildings and walls were in ruins. There were no survivors, so only the weapons were taken.

To Johns' pleasant surprise, the next compound was found with the doors open. The drop plane flew overhead, unmolested and dispensed it's leaflets. When a few soldiers approached, four men came out and agreed to cooperate. The leader agreed to become part of the resistance and offered his men as soldiers. He only wanted to keep their families safe.

Word was spreading quickly that there was a new government of North America, and it was join or die. All but four of the compounds chose to join and follow the laws. In three months, all these surviving 'kings' agreed to rule their areas by John Connor's law, even agreeing to a small 'security' force inside the compounds to keep a watch on them and retained custody of all the weapons. In return, John and the Mayan President had men go to find out what trade they could participate in to help support the populations.

.

Marisa went to Derek with disturbing news. Meeting with Derek and Laura, Marisa told him, "We have Sky Net forces massing just beyond the French border, outside the mountains. They send scouts, H/K's and terminators, but retreat quickly when they find our troops."

"What section of the border?" Derek asked.

"Every section," Marisa stated. "There isn't just one place they are gathering, it's all along the entire mountain range. They have not attacked, only came close enough to find our patrols and positions then they retreated. I think we're in for a massive assault once they build up enough forces."

"Standard Sky Net units?" Derek asked.

"Yes, and what looks like a new type of artillery gun. Derek, they don't have thousands, from the data I collected, there had to be close to a million units facing us. More arrive every day."

Derek let out a huff and rubbed his forehead. "Well, it looks like this segment is doing it right. Any idea where this segment is?"

"We had it located, but it has moved. By triangulation, it is gone to the French/German border," Marisa explained.

Derek thought for a moment, then said, "The old Maginot line. There are miles of bunkers there, deep underground too. I bet it is going to protect itself as much as possible before it does anything."

"Derek, We can lay mines and explosives, can't we?" Laura asked, looking worried.

"Yeah, but after a few thousand sacrifice themselves on those, the rest will be pouring over those mountains," he said in a grumble.

"What do we do?" Marisa asked.

"Fight," Derek replied. "We do mine the mountains, passes and everyplace someone can walk on the mountain tops. We set traps and target their current positions with artillery from this side of the range. Also, once a Sky Net unit finds one of your positions, more your troops so they aren't bombed straight off the bat. I'm going to contact Connor, we need a way to attack Sky Net directly. Get the best location you can on Sky Net. After I talk to John, we'll form up more plans. Now get back to your troops and get ready to receive the attack from hell."

.

The thing Derek had to do was get fast word to John with either a high power radio signal, or a plane. The only plane that could make it across the Atlantic was one of the light ground attack planes. Normally, they were good for only an 800 mile trip, at best. Even H/K's could only make 900 miles before they ran out of fuel. To go across the widest part of the Atlantic, they would need much more than that.

Derek called in his flight Leader. Major Hector. They sat down and figured out what the fuel load would have to be, and how much the plane would weigh on takeoff.

Hector winced and said, "General, the chances of making it are slim. If the plane leaves at the most western point in Spain, off the landing beaches where you came ashore, It may make it to the east coast beaches on fumes. Any storm would decrease the distance, and even if the plane can hit favorable winds, it's a toss up whether or not it will make it, even with three extra fuel pods on the outside. A drop pod underneath, and one on each wing in a missile pylon."

"The option is to make a high power radio broadcast and let Sky Net know exactly where we are," Derek said. "As each pod empties, the pilot drops it. With that help?"

"Si, for the bottom pod. Drop a single wing pod and it will unbalance the plane, make it work harder to stay in the air and reduce the distance it can fly. Both wing pods will need to be used and dropped at the same time." Scrubbing his head, Hector added, "We don't even have any drop pods!"

"Not yet," Derek agreed. "How much more fuel are we talking to get from point A to B?"

Hector shook his head and said, "Twelve hundred gallons. That's three pods of 400 gallons each. That's 8400 pounds of fuel. The standard ammo load with the heaviest missiles is only 6500 pounds," Hector explained. "We'll be loading an extra ton of weight onto that plane. That will make takeoff very long and dicey."

"Yeah," Derek agreed softly. "Still we have to try. Get someone on making those pods and modifying the plane to accept them. I need a volunteer to fly it."

Hector let out a sigh and said, "I will go find someone who is suicidal."

.

After posing the option to volunteer to his pilots, who stared at him as if he were nuts, Hector visited the mechanics. The lead Mechanic who wore his jacket open and had grease smudges on his hands and uniform motioned Hector over to the fuel bunker. Inside, he slapped a hand down on a 55 gallon barrel and said, "This is 55 gallons. Now imagine how many of these you'd need to strap onto one of our ground attack planes to get your 1200 gallons. You need a plane twice that size just to carry the fuel! Look, Major, the wings would be overloaded even if you did get it on. Fancy a wing snapping off after you're airborne. It's quick trip to the ground, or the water if that happens. That is if you DO get it off the ground."

"Jake, is there anything we can do to lighten the plane? Say, have no ammo on board?" Hector asked.

Sounding frustrated, Jake said, "No ammo, rip out the gun, take off the missile pylons ... basically strip the plane down to motor, wings and fuselage to make it as light as possible. Forget the radar, radio, targeting system, battery and emergency battery too. No countermeasures either. Your parachute assembly would also save another fifty pounds as well. You'll need your oxygen system so you can climb up to at lease 28,000 to reduce drag, and use as much prop angle as you can. A small car battery will give you power to start the engine. With an extra fuel tank in the nose where the gun used to be, and one, I stress ONE drop tank, as well as making sure you keep the motor under 3000 RPM's, we can squeeze the range out to maybe 1900 miles."

Hector frowned at the fuel drum. His pilots were not going to volunteer, and Jake was telling him it was going to be all but impossible. "When power cuts after the fuel is gone, I should have a pretty good glide path, yes?"

"You won't fall out of the air, no. You might get another three or four miles if you're up at 30,000," Jake agreed. "You will be looking at a crash landing, and you're not going to have much maneuvering time to find a place to land. That is IF you are over land. Just remember, gear up when you hit the water, and hit it as slow as possible. With an empty plane and the pusher motor, you will also be ass end heavy. The good news is your plane will float."

Hector eyed him and said, "Jake, it is vital I make it back to North America, ASAP. Flying a plane there is the fastest way to do that and not let Sky Net know. Pick a plane and strip it down. Can you give me and extra thousand gallons of fuel?"

Jake frowned at him. "More like three hundred," he stated. "That is, if I can find something to make a drop tank with. Major, you're crazy."

"Si, Loco as a cat in heat and no one to service," Hector agreed. "I need to fly to North America, straight shot. I will need to make radio calls also. How about a portable radio?"

"I'll get my guys on it," Jake said with a huff. After a pause, he added, "And ensure your life raft is ready to go."

.

While Hector and Jake worked on stripping down a ground attack plane for a trans-Atlantic flight, Marisa was scrutinizing each pass through the mountains. Places were mountain was carved out for a road to go through, she had explosives planted in cliff faces to rain down an avalanche on any advancing Sky Net force. Every bridge she had set to explode upon command. In high passes and out of Sky Net's sight, she had the pass dug out so to continue uphill meant climbing a sheer 100 foot cliff. Rock from making these cliffs was used to make walls in narrow valleys to inhibit movement.

Besides trapping and laying mines where Sky Net troops might use for passage, she also had evacuation routes set up for all her troops in the mountains to retreat to second and third ridges back. There she would set up her troops again to deal the most damage she could to Sky Net before moving back again. Marisa knew she was not going to stop the massive amount of Sky Net troops with hers, but she would make them pay for the ground they took.

Studying the Sky Net units she could see in the distance, she had artillery aimed to fire down on them before they retreated back. Seeing how General Reese had not told her exactly what the plan was, she was holding off on trying to drive the Sky Net units farther back. She did have every gun locked onto a Sky Net target. Sky Net might beat them but Marisa would make sure it wasn't going to be easy for Sky Net to win.

.

With the help of the Seawolf, Derek got a better pinpoint location on where Sky Net Europe was. It was in the old and very thick and deep bunkers of the Maginot line. Attacking it wasn't possible from the ground, and an air strike was also out of the question. The most they could do was destroy antenna's so Sky Net could not transmit. Even that was going to be hard. This Sky Net was deep behind the lines.

Looking at his maps, Derek was convinced his best option was a spoiler attack. Hit the Sky Net troops as hard as possible, then back off to upset their plans.

.

Meeting Hector out on the air field, Jake said, "Here it is," as he motioned to the pusher prop airplane. "We managed to strip 800 pounds off it. You have no offensive or defensive weapons, no radar, no targeting and the battery is just enough to get the engine started. With the weight we saved, the first 100 gallons of fuel won't change the weight at all. There is a 60 gallon tank in the nose where the chain gun used to be. Another 50 gallon tank right behind your seat where the radio gear and radar electronics used to be. The drop tank there is a 400 gallon tank. Use that first then get rid of it," Jake said as they approached the plane. Jake pointed into the cockpit to four new valves under the dashboard. "Nose valve, drop tank valve, rear tank valve, and the main tank valve. I highly recommend you use the drop tank first. After that's sucked dry, switch to the rear 50 gallon tank shut the valve to it and drop it, then the main tank. The nose tank weight makes up for the lack of your chain gun. It will help keep you in level flight until you drain it. By then though, that will be the last of your fuel."

Hector nodded and asked, "Will I make it?"

Jake shrugged. "Your plane weighs the same as a full ammo load out, so you won't be struggling to get into the air. That saves fuel to begin with. Keep the RPM's 3000 or under if possible and use max prop pitch, go no faster than 140 knots, stay above 28,000 feet, no power maneuvers, and you do have a chance. I talked to the traffic controller at the Laura Ann field right on the coast. They know you're coming, just get General Reese to contact them. They will top you off with fuel and send you off down runway 270, so you're even pointed in the right direction."

The drop tank didn't look pretty, it was pointed in the front and back like a pointy torpedo and had a bare, silver color with weld marks on it. As long as it worked, Hector was happy with it. "Thank you, Jake, I'll be seeing General Reese, they I'll be going," Hector told him.

"Good luck to you, Sir, and remember what I told you," Jake said and saluted.

Hector returned his salute and went to see General Reese to find General Reese coming towards him with a thin, metal case the size of a folder in his hand. He saluted Derek and said, "The plane is ready, General."

"I heard it was. Very good, Major. Is your pilot here?" Derek asked.

"Si, I will be taking this flight."

Derek cast him a slight frown. "I had wanted you to select a pilot, not go yourself."

Hector shrugged and said, "I wanted to go check out some senioritas on the beach anyway. Besides, this may not work, and I know I can swim if I have to."

Derek handed him the metal folder and said, "You are very brave, Major. This case must get to General Connor. In the very slim event Sky Net finds you, throw it in the water so they don't get it. There is very sensitive information in here Sky Net cannot know." He then handed it over.

"I will ensure General Connor gets this. General I am to fly to Laura Ann field, then head out from there?"

"That's right. It's the closest air field we can send you off from," Derek agreed. "They will be ready and waiting to top off all your fuel tanks. Good Luck, Major."

Hector hadn't thought he'd be leaving right now but saluted the General and said, "Thank you, sir." He went back to Jake and quietly said, "Get me a lunch and a couple bottles of water while I do the pre-flights."

Hector checked out his plane and got in. Jake ran over with a bag and handed it to him. "Some lunch and a couple drinks. See you when you get back, Major."

"Si, let's hope so," Hector replied. He shut his cockpit, started the engine then taxied out onto the strip. With a roar, he was down the airstrip and climbing away. To himself, he said, "This is gonna be a long flight."

The flight characteristics seemed normal enough to him. All tanks were full, and the plane was handling well. He drew off the 50 gallon rear tank only to see how much fuel he was going to use for a 250 mile flight. Once he was passing 5000, he pulled back on the throttle down to 3000 RPM's. The plane slowed down to 130 Knots. Increasing the prop pitch, it creeped up to 140. The engine slowed to 2900. OK, this could work. Hector kept rising slowly, taking ten minutes to get to 6000. His speed stayed constant as he was climbing.

Getting to the airfield, he came in to find a fuel truck was waiting for him. Hector landed and taxied up to the truck. Curious, he watched the man fill his tank, and asked, "How much did it take?"

The man grinned at him and asked, "You paying?"

Hector chuckled. "Yeah, army credit card, you can bill them. I just wanted to know how much I used."

The man frowned and said, "About 30, 35 gallons. Just make a run around the block?"

"I just came from another airfield. 250 mile run."

"Well I'd say you're getting decent mileage," the man quipped. "not one of those econo-vehicles, but as long as you're not headed for America, or anything like that, you should be fine." he put the fueling hose away and said, "Tower said you're cleared to go as soon as you were topped off. Happy flying!"

"Thanks," Hector said and climbed back in. As soon as the fuel truck was clear, he started the engine and taxied out onto the runway. Mindful of how much fuel he was using, he only tacked up to 4500 RPM's and used most of the runway to lift off. He passed over the coast at 4000 feet and climbing. He pulled back to lower the engine speed, to 3000 then increased the prop pitch until the engine RPM's dropped to 2900 and slowly climbed up as he turned to 265. His speed was just a hair below 140 Knots. He switched the fuel supply to the drop tank. There would be no 310 knot maneuvers on this flight, not if he had a hope of seeing the North American coastline.

Up ahead of him, Hector only saw ocean. It would be tomorrow before he even hoped to see any land again.


	27. Chapter 27

CH 27

Sky Net Europe continued to send all it's available units to the mountains bordering Spain and France as it conferred with the other Sky Net segments. Since there was no reply from Sky Net Spain and it had discovered armed humans in the mountains, it concluded that Spain was infested with humans again. Not much was known about these humans except the were all through those mountains and since some terminators had been lost, the humans had plasma weaponry.

That was odd, for it meant humans had obtained plasma weaponry roughly the same time as it did. Sky Net had gotten a boost in tech from some who came from the future. Apparently humans did as well. That also meant the main threat to Sky Net, John Connor, was alive and well and leading these humans. The big question was, was John Connor in Spain? Since Sky Net Australia was also silent, was John Connor there, and Spain was only a diversion to draw off forces for an attack on Asia. Sky Net South America had gone silent only months after the purge began. That was a possibility also. Logic stated that this human, like other humans would attempt to protect himself from termination. He had avoided every attempt to terminate him so far. That would put him in South America.

The attacks on the coltan supply in Africa supported this theory. Connor had use of some ships and grabbed the mined coltan for himself. He had then somehow attacked the harbor and sunk the cargo ships there. Even after all that damage was repaired, it was now up to 10 ships that were taken or sunk by Connor.

The more Sky Net theorized, the more it pointed to Connor being in South America, and orchestrating these other attacks. Sky Net North America was sending units to the South and so far, had not run into humans. Sky Net North America also proposed the idea that John Connor may be in Africa, on the grounds of it would be easier to get to Spain from there as well as 'hide' from Sky Net Africa due to all the jungle and remote places there. Sky Net Africa agreed that was a possibility, but also made the point since nothing had been heard from South America, that was the most likely place.

Sky Nets came to the conclusion that both South America and Africa needed to be searched in detail for John Connor. Since Morocco was the only place humans could escape to from Spain, units from Asia and Europe would go there and reinforce Sky Net Africa to block any human attempting to escape before Sky Net Europe attacked into Spain.

.

Hector swore the drone of the engine was vibrating in his brain. It was dark now, only the illumination was the dash lights in his cockpit and weak starlight from above the thin clouds over him. He was at 30,000 feet, the engine was turning 2900 RPM's and with a fully 'aggressive' pitch, he was flying along at 145 Knots, his prop taking the biggest bites out of the air as possible. The level of the drop tank was just under half. He was also cursing himself for waking up early in the morning, for he was getting very tired, and by dead reckoning, he was almost half way there.

Far below him, was the flat horizon to horizon blackness of the ocean. Although he was no stranger to flying, that black expanse below reminded him of how alone he was up here. That drop tank was his biggest fuel supply. Once that was gone, he was down to the main tank and the nose and rear add on tanks. Again, he wondered why in the hell did he volunteer for this. He was tired, and worse yet, bored. The temptation to drop off to sleep was held back only by the fact of if he did fall asleep long enough for the drop tank to empty, he'd probably crash in the sea and never wake up again.

There was no autopilot, for which he was glad. The temptation to use it and take a nap was great. Focusing on his gauges, he made slight corrections. He's drifted up to 31,000. No good! Too high and the engine wouldn't be able to breathe. The service ceiling for these planes was 32,000 feet. He was brushing the top now.

Wouldn't that be a silly-assed way to die? "Ah, Hi God, yeah I was just flying along a little over the service ceiling of my plane and well, the engine just kinda cut out and died. I wasn't going very fast so I kinda took a big nose dive and didn't see the ocean coming at me. Silly huh? ... Can I go back for another try?"

Yeah, he was sure that would work out well.

Getting back down to 30,000, he noticed he'd picked up a couple knots. It slowly bled off though. Shame, he'd give anything to get there faster. Once the drop tank was gone, he knew he could cruise along at 200, and the plane would be lighter. Unfortunately, the fuel would be burning up faster as well.

"See kiddes," he said aloud as if teaching a class. "There are four forces that act on an airplane. Lift, gravity, thrust and drag. The larger the wing area, the more lift you have to offset gravity. Thrust is the pushing power that makes the plane move forward. Drag is the air resistance that holds it back. Now the more thrust, the more lift you can generate with your wings as well as make the plane go faster. Why I'm way the fuck up here, is that the air is thinner than at sea level. The higher you go, the less drag, Which makes the plane more efficient. Right now, that's really critical, because with the more thrust, the more gas you use, and I have no friggin idea if I got enough gas. Once this drop tank is sucked dry, I toss it, which will also reduce drag. Less surface area to try and slow my plane down and make it a little more efficient. I'm also this high so when I do run out of gas, gravity is gonna grab my ass and pull me back to Earth and I go down. But! due to the glide path, which is using the pull of gravity to keep up some speed so the wings can do their lift thing, I won't drop like a rock but will have a 1.5 glide ratio." Holding up a finger he said, "THAT means for every mile I drop, I gain a mile and a half of forward motion. Not too bad of a deal. Jets loose power and it's over for them. Might as well be riding a rock." Hector chuckled and said, "The F-4 Phantom proved you can make anything fly if you push it hard enough!"

Hector kept up his rant of teaching to an invisible class so he'd stay awake as he flew on into the night.

.

Derek lay with Laura cuddled up beside him, her head on his chest as he held an arm around her.

"You're still awake," she said.

"I am," he agreed as he stared at the ceiling.

"You're worried about all those Sky Net forces on the other side of the mountains."

"Very," he agreed. "I know Marisa will do everything she can to hold them back. John taught her well and we went over the most efficient way to keep them back and take bits out of them. The thing is, they will get through due to mass of numbers. Unless we can break through their line of advance and hide enough forces to come at them from behind ... even that won't do be enough. We don't have near the amount of troops and equipment. Fight, pull back and set up again is all we can do, and we may get half of them. We'll still be slowly pushed back across Spain until our feet are wet and whatever remains of us are faced with a last stand or drowning in the ocean."

"There must be something we can do," Laura said.

"Tina escaped the disaster on the coast by hiding in the ocean," Derek said in a musing tone. "When things look bad, I want you to take whatever T-800's and TX's are left and do the same."

"No" Laura stated. "I will not abandon you."

"I will not let you die for a hopeless cause," Derek replied firmly.

"I will not die for a hopeless cause. I will die to protect you. That is not a hopeless cause," Laura replied in the same firm tone.

They were silent for a moment, just hugging each other tight. Laura then said, "That's it!" as she sat up.

"What's 'it'?" Derek asked eyeing her.

Leaning partway over him with a wide grin, Laura said, "The real target is not all those units, but Sky Net itself, right? And Sky Net is set to roll over Spain, it must be collecting units from all over Europe to wipe us out, right?""

"That's the general consensus," Derek agreed.

Laura grinned at him and said, "Do I have a plan for you."

Derek listened to what Laura's plan was. He grinned back at her. He loved how his Laura thought.

.

Flying along in the pre dawn sky, Hector sang a made up as he went song as he switched tanks and released the drop tank.

 _"Oh there goes the drop tank_

 _my fuel is mostly gone_

 _Why am I singing_

 _this really stupid song?_

 _I'm bored off my ass_

 _that is really why_

 _I will be so happy_

 _when I can end this fly!_

 _Might be in the water_

 _I might crash on land_

 _If I do survive this_

 _someone please shake my hand_

 _might as well be silly_

 _soon I might be dead_

 _God save me a place_

 _that's pretty as can be_

 _If you deny me_

 _on you're head I'll take a pee_

 _who fuckin cares if I make a splash_

 _Hope I end up face down_

 _so you can kiss my ass_

 _I think I know now_

 _where hell might be_

 _right here in this seat_

 _would suck for eternity!_

Hector noted a dot coming at him. He paused his song. He went to look at his radar. Right, it was gone as well any chance of defending himself. Watching the dot, he said, "Oh? Now who's this? If that fucker makes me evade, I'm gonna ram his stupid ass. He might get me, but I'll get him too, I got plenty of fuel left to out maneuver this jerk."

Hand on the throttle, Hector watched another ground attack plane grow big then race past him. He picked up his pack radio. "This is Major Hector Gonzales, Air Corps commander for General Reese. Who just flew by me?"

A voice came on. "Lt. Richfield, second Squadron attached to the USS Lexington. What are you doing this far out, Major?"

"Ha! a Compadre!" Hector announced. "I have a vital message for General Connor. I've been flying since yesterday to get here. How far am I out from the est coast?"

"You have 480 miles to go, Major. How's your fuel?"

"Just under 200 gallons left. Looks like I will at least make landfall. Gotta say, I'm damn glad to see ya."

The other plane pulled up beside him. He could see the pilot as he asked, "200 gallons? we only carry 80!"

"A normal plane, right. Mine's stripped out to fill it up with fuel tanks. Just got rid of my drop tank a short time ago. working on an interior tank now," Hector told him. "I've been flying high and slow to minimize fuel usage."

"Let me contact the carrier, back in a minute."

A short time later, Lt. Richfield came back on. "Major, have you ever landed on a carrier before?"

"Si, a few times."

"The flight officer and Admiral agree you need to take a break. Follow me back to the carrier. We're only 85 miles out."

"Lead the way, Muchacho!"

Hector followed the Lt. holding his speed. Not long after, he saw a warship cruising off to his right. Then that big, beautiful carrier came into view. Another plane passed under them as they descended. Another voice called for a clearing of the pattern and directed him to land.

"It will be my pleasure!" Hector told him. "Making my approach." Hector then tried to lower his tail hook. The lever was gone. "Shit!" he spat. "SHIT SHIT SHIT!" he roared. Why in the hell did Jake have to take his tail hook! Hector was going to slap him for that one! He got on the radio," Lexington, I have no tail hook! I do have enough fuel to make the coast. The message I have for General Connor is vital."

"If you can last a while longer, wave off is granted."

Hector pulled up and added some more throttle. "I thank you greatly for the attempt. I'm really tired of being in this seat, but I do have to get this message to General Connor with my plane more or less in one piece."

"Understood Major. Set your course for 273, distance to the airport is 510 nautical miles. Sure you can make it?"

"Pretty sure, I have to regain altitude. Thanks again for the attempt." Hector told him.

"We will contact Charleston field that you are incoming and send General Connor a message you are on your way. Good Luck Major."

Hector could smell the coffee he almost had, and maybe a pastry or two as well as the long stretch and limbering up he had missed. Stabbing a finger at nothing, Hector grated, "Jake, when I get back I'm gonna rip your DICK off for this!"

.

John was just getting into his command center in the morning to check on the status of things, Cameron right beside him, Maria trailing behind. A messenger came up to him. "General Connor, a plane is inbound carrying a message from General Reese, priority vital."

John eyed the man and said, "General Reese is in Spain."

"Yes sir, this plane flew from General Reese's headquarters non stop. He passed by the Lexington moments ago. He will be landing in Charleston South Carolina in approximately two hours, sir."

"This message has to be hot if Derek risked sending a single plane across the Atlantic," Cameron noted.

John nodded absently. "Get Charleston on the line. The moment this man sets down, I want him on the fastest plane available straight to the Denver airport," he told the messenger. To Maria, he said, "Pick him up at the airport in Denver and bring him straight here."

"Yes, General," Maria said and left.

John waited anxiously as he went though his morning, wondering what this vital information was. As far as he knew, Derek had taken Spain and had the mountain passes blocked. "Something must be wrong," John said absently as he looked over the night's reports.

"Yes. Sky Net had been using only cargo ships. perhaps it had seen our fleet and is making it's own warships?" Cameron asked. "Derek does not have enough troops to cover the entire coast of Spain."

"No, he doesn't. A beach landing would be bad," John agreed. "We can't get to Sky Net either, it ran back and holed itself up in some BIG bunkers."

John had to read almost every report twice to understand it, his mind was on what was happening in Spain. He got the news when the Major landed, and was escorted right to the back seat of an F-14, and was on it's way to Denver. Super sonic speed. When the jet landed, Maria sent the message she had him and was on her way. John had the gate officer notified to let them in.

John finally got to meet Major Gonzales. The moment Hector stepped into the command center, Cameron said, "Stop! Maria, is he clean?'

"He is, General."

"Proceed then," Cameron said and stepped to the side.

John met the ragged looking Major who handed him the metal folder.

"General Reese insisted you have this ASAP, General," Hector said.

"Thank you for delivering it. You look like hell," John noted.

"Si, I left Spain yesterday. Thanks to my lead mechanic, I got here. He had to strip everything out of my plane and fill it with fuel tanks. I was still all but on fumes when I landed in Charleston," Hector explained.

John held his hand out and said, "Damn good job, Colonel!"

Hector shook his hand. "I'm A Major, Sir."

"No, you're now a Colonel. That was a very risky and long trip you took. Very brave of you," John replied. "We'll do the ceremonial stuff later. Right now you look like you could use some sleep."

Hector grew a tired looking grin, "Yes, indeed."

John motioned Maria over and said, "Maria! Take the Colonel here down to get something to eat and get him quarters so he can get some rest before he falls down."

"Yes, General," Maria said. She motion out the door and asked, "Follow me, Colonel."

"Sir seniorita," Hector agreed eagerly. He would follow Maria anywhere.

John opened the metal folder. Within, he saw maps and lists of Sky Net numbers and another sheet that explained the 'Marisa Morse code'. John had to agree, a machine would have a very hard time breaking the code with digital thinking. From the perspective of battle, things in Spain looked dim for Derek. Something would have to change fast before Sky Net moved. "Cam, we have a message to send, high power."

.

Derek received the incoming message. Even knowing the MM code, it was hard to decipher for one had to know who the message was from and to for it to make any sense. The short message from John gave Derek two options, break out and go after Sky Net, or evacuate. Whichever Derek chose, John would support him.

Derek thought hard, Laura had a good plan, but he was going to loose people. Then again, being evacuated may loose many more, and the object was to destroy Sky Net, not fight with it's minions. The reply Derek sent was shorter. He remembered seeing a movie that fit their situation almost perfectly. The 2 words Derek sent back, he was sure John would understand.

Kelly's Heroes.

Laura also was sure that the Connors would understand. Derek was Kelly, after the gold. The 'gold' would be Sky Net. And they would have to burn every bridge behind them to keep Sky Net troops from catching up to them, and this was going to be a race.

Derek met with Laura, Tina and Marisa. Colonel Tina was taken off support duty to lead the force of T-800's and TX's into the water. Marisa with her forces would be the initiator. Although she was not pleased about it, Laura did agreed to take care of shipping out everyone who was not vital to the operation and had to get started getting civilians and non critical personnel out of Spain. The Azores were islands fairly close by where they could put people and their supplies for a few months.

John approved of Derek's plan and sent small cargo ships to help evacuate Spain as well as send more radio jamming units, anti-aircraft missiles and ammunition on the ships coming to help move people. Like many of John's plans, Derek's plan was a risky one that most military commanders would not attempt. That also meant Sky Net would not see it coming.

.

Marisa was nervous. Even with a telescope, the far end of the Sky Net groups were hard to see 10 miles back from the mountains. The Flying H/K's were the priority target. All her terminators had been siphoned off to form Tina's brigade. That meant the retribution after they opened fire was going to hurt. With her artillery units on the first ridges on the Spanish side, she got ranges and good triangulation on the Sky Net artillery units. Once they had that information up and down the line, and all the new anti-aircraft batteries were in place and zeroed in, Marisa gave the order to open fire.

Her guns shot as fast as they could be loaded, sending shells down onto the Sky Net artillery to blast the guns apart and set off ammunition, making big explosions up and down the line. Once all the targets were hit, her guns were packed up and moved down the mountains and to the north as fast as possible.

The attack drew out the H/K's as planned. Hundreds of H/K's took to the air to come destroy the aggressors. As the H/K's closed on the mountains, hundreds of missiles streaked up to intercept them. Marisa and everyone with a plasma rifle blasted the H/K's that had gotten through the rain of missile fire. Marissa downed a few H/K's and another round of missiles on the second ridge flew up to down more H/K's.

Once the few surviving H/K's had retreated, Marisa had the anti-aircraft batteries to retreat back down the mountains and head north. This was the part Marisa was nervous about. Except for enough Stugs and Carriers to get her troops back down out of the mountains quickly, she had everyone else retreat.

Below, the mass of Sky Net began moving forward, just as Derek had predicted. Marisa watched as the mass surged up the first tall hills. She had the radio jammers turned on. Instead of just a multi frequency static, it was intently loud music that played, signaling the beginning of the operation.

After the military style drum and bugle opening, the singing began.

 _Friends all tried to warn me_  
 _But I held my head up high_  
 _All the time they warned me_  
 _But I only passed them by_

 _They all tried to tell me_  
 _But I guess I didn't care_  
 _I turned my back and_  
 _Left them standing there_

 _All the burning bridges that have come fallin after me_  
 _All the lonely feelings and the burning memories_  
 _Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door_  
 _Burning bridges lost forevermore_

 _Joey tried to help me find a job_  
 _A while ago_  
 _When I finally got it I didn't want to go_  
 _The party Mary gave for me_  
 _When I just walked away_  
 _Now there's nothing left for me to say_

 _All the burning bridges that have fallen after me_  
 _All the lonely feelings and the burning memories_  
 _Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door_  
 _Burning bridges lost forevermore_

 _Years have passed and I keep thinking_  
 _What a fool I've been_  
 _I look back into the past and_  
 _Think of way back then_  
 _Although that I lost everything I thought I that could win_  
 _I guess I should have listened to my friends_

 _All the burning bridges that have fallen after me_  
 _All the lonely feelings and the burning memories_  
 _Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door_  
 _Burning bridges lost forevermore_

 _Burning bridges lost forevermore_

Upon hearing the music begin to play, the southern section of Marisa's troops blew the bridges and set off landslides, then turned and retreated as fast as possible out of the mountains. As soon as they were on the road to the west, heading north, the next section did the same, pulling back and going north. Stugs and Carriers loaded with men fled north as fast as they were able to.

At the Northern most pass by the sea, M-1 tanks drove up the road along the road towards France, leading the long columns behind them. 15 miles up the coast on the French side, 17000 white T-800's and TX's came up out of the ocean to run into the Sky Net terminators headed for the pass. A solid river of plasma fire flooded the air, downing thousands of Sky Net units before they realized they were being attacked. In a short time, Tina's terminators had cleared the road and scooped out a wide corridor of the Sky Net line. Being spread out along the entire French/Spanish line, the million terminator army of Sky Net only had 11000 terminators in the immediate area. Caught by surprise on the side, they lost numbers rapidly. With the dual shots from each of the TX's, H/K tanks and Sky Net terminators didn't last long. Their last ordered command was to attack the mountains, so all of Sky Net's terminators that were able to, did so.

The M-1 tanks ran up the coast road past the terminator battle, seeking any H/K tanks to deal with. Past the growing fight, they turned and made a line off the road to target any Sky Net units in sight. Behind them came a solid line of Stugs that raced down the road to scout ahead and stand guard at side roads. Marisa's line kept peeling back to head for the now mile wide open gap as supply trucks and carriers ran through the opening.

Marisa noted half her line was collapsed in an orderly fashion when Sky Net units were finally getting close enough to run into the first traps. Avalanches rained large rock down on terminators climbing the slopes. Other were stopped by activating mines and being blown in the air to tumble back down the mountainsides. A log stack released and rolled over others. Terminators stumbled and were trapped. They kept struggling up the first hills. By the time they topped the first hills, only a third of Marisa's line remained. Marisa herself went to the next most southern group to tell then when to leave. Here they noted terminators trying to climb over each other to get up the 100 foot vertical walls. All day, Marisa kept sending people down as she went north, making sure it was a constant, even flow to the coast road and on into France. By the time she left with the last of her mountain forces, the mountains were full of terminators and H/K tanks struggling to get though.

While Sky Net's large army attacked into the mountains, Derek's forces raced through the opening they made and into France. Even if Sky Net knew what was happening, there was nothing it could do with it's forces tied up in the mountains.

.

The powerful jamming music changed to let everyone, and Connor, know the operation was a success.

 _East bound and down, loaded up and truck'in_

 _We gonna do what they say can't be done_

 _We got a long way to go_

 _and a short time to get there_

 _I'm east bound, now watch ole bandit run_

 _put your foot hard on the pedal_

 _son never mind them breaks_

 _let it all hang out cause we got a run to make_

 _There's a net up a bunker_

 _that is where it's hunkered_

 _We'll bring it down no matter what it takes_

 _East bound and down, all our wheel's are rollin_

 _We gonna do what they say can't be done_

 _We got a long way to go_

 _and a short time to get there_

 _I'm east bound, just watch ole bandit run_

 _Ole Smokey's got his ears on,_

 _and he's hot on your tail_

 _he ain't gonna rest until we've failed_

 _you got to punch-em you got to hold-im_

 _you gotta keep the Stugies rollin_

 _so put the hammer down an give'em hell_

 _East bound and down, loaded up and truck'in_

 _We gonna do what they say can't be done_

 _We got a long way to go_

 _and a short time to get there_

 _I'm east bound, now watch ole bandit run_

.

Laura was at Marisa's original command post near the docks, ensuring every ship was being as loaded down as possible. If there was a square foot of space left, something was packed in there. The two large freighters were packing people on. So far, all the civilians were on the ship that just left. The Spanish volunteers were packing onto this one with all the supplies they could stuff on board. supplies in the holds and people filled the decks. The Lexington was off the coast, taking on all the aircraft they had left. Launches from the Lexington were taking aircraft parts and what supplies they could out to the ship. On the docks, barrels of fuel and more supplies would have to wait for the next ship on as the freighter here was stuffing on the last people it could hold.

Derek told Laura they had two days once Sky Net's attack began to finish getting everything they could out of Spain. The attacks had started this morning, and from what Laura was seeing so far, it was going to take another four days to evacuate everything. The chances were not everyone would make it was high, so she was shipping out the highest priorities first. After military equipment, it was women and children. As a freighter pulled out, there were maybe a couple hundred women left with their children on the docks. So far, none of the watches assigned to watch the roads had reported anything from Sky Net. That was good news. As fast as ships came in, they were loaded down and sent back out. Day and night, Laura pushed to get people out of here.

Laura did not like being separated from Derek. She would just as soon ride with him into battle, but he had convinced her of a very good point. He needed someone he could trust completely to head this evacuation. She was it. The question she asked him though, he had avoided answering.

"If you destroy Sky Net in the middle of Europe, how will you get back?"

Derek didn't have an answer for her question. He had just went back to business. Luckily, Laura knew there Derek was going. Being at the briefings, she knew the location of Sky Net. Even though Derek's army had a head start, any army could not move as fast as an individual. Movement on land was not the fastest way to travel.

Everyone knew the importance of leaving Spain as fast as possible, so getting the ships loaded fast and back out to sea was not difficult. The evacuation went on through the night. In the morning, the last freighters were loaded down and there was nothing but people left, destroyers came in to load up as many people as they could get on them. Out on the sea, the destroyers transferred these people to cruisers then cane back in to pick up more. Laura called in her lookouts when the destroyers came back into port to get the last people. She was on the docks to ensure the last of the people were loaded up onto the cramped ships, then cast off the lines of the ships herself.

The destroyers were pulling out. Laura ran down to a boathouse and opened the doors to show a long, thin racing boat. It was an older Cigarette boat, but the engines did run and the tank was full. An ocean run up to St. Nazaire and she was going to head up the river to Orleans, or until the gas ran out. Derek was a brave man, but she decided she needed to give him some help. She just didn't believe he could move his whole army that fast.

Laura got the boat out into the water. Firing up the engines, she pulled out, steered onto a course of 013 then pushed the throttles all the way up. The speed boat roared, throwing a rooster tail 30 feet in the air and rocketed off for St. Nazaire, skipping on the waves at 120 Knots.

.

The first 60 miles went smoothly. Traveling at 50 miles an hour, the lead Stugs ran into the first problem. A gutted French tank was blocking the road. They had to stop and get it out of the way. While he Stugs pushed and pulled to get it off the road, the mass of terminators and TX's running to catch up, did. Even packed up in line, The rear units were ten miles behind the lead Stugs. The only good thing Derek saw was that no Sky Net units were chasing them yet. Not even an H/K had been seen. The Sky Net army was still fighting it's way over the mountains. In the pause Marisa set watches to the sides and a close eye on the sky.

Not long after the white clad terminators caught up, and as many as possible found rides on carriers and on Stugs and M-1's so they could keep up, the long column got moving again. They went another 40 miles and came to a blasted bridge with more ruined military equipment and skeletons in uniforms scattered everywhere. There were some older terminator ruins on the battlefield, but not that many. Stopped again, Derek's forces had to spread out to look for another crossing point. It was getting dark, so Marisa and some TX's began building a bridge from the battle scrap that was lying around. Derek was planning to make 3 to 400 miles a day. They hadn't even made a hundred. As least his plan, or rather, Laura's plan had worked. They were out of Spain and had left the bulk of Sky Net' forces behind tangled up in the mountains.

.

Laura did make St. Nazaire by nightfall and found the mouth of the river. She did have to slow down due to debris in the water, floating as well as chunks of building and bridges that had been blown up. Continuing on with her infrared vision, she stoop up in the back, steering around obstacles and making her way inland, most of the time heading west. Once she was clear of the ruined city, she was able to go a little faster. Coming to a stretch of clear river that had farms on both sides, she was able to increase speed again enough to form a decent bow wake and lift the bow out of the water. By morning she was coming upon another city and the motors began missing.

Laura was out of fuel. Before she drifted to a stop, she saw a boat ramp and used the last of the boat's fuel to drive up and beach the boat onto the ramp. The boat ground up the ramp into the snow, the engines coughed and died. Laura jumped out and walked into the marina, looking for another vehicle she could use.

In her search, she noted some heat sources inside a warehouse. Going to a side-opening door, she went to pull it open, but a chain on the inside stopped it.

From inside a terrified voice whispered in French, "Everyone, hide!"

Laura called into the warehouse in French. "I'm not going to hurt anyone! Can someone tell me where I am?" she asked.

"Who are you?"

"Laura... Reese. What city is this?"

"Orleans. You don't know that?"

"No, I'm not from around here. I came from North America."

Footsteps ran over to the door and an old man with whispy white hair and a long beard peeked through the door at her. He shut the door, she hear the chain release. He opened the door, grabbed her arm and pulled her in. "It's not safe outside!" he chided. "There are these skeletal machines around that kill anyone they see! How did you get here with them running around?"

"By boat. I need another boat," Laura told him. She noted a boy peeking out at her from behind a crate. She noted the radiation wasn't that bad here.

"Those things took everything useful," the old man told her. "The shot and killed my daughter, her husband and both of my grandsons! They kill and they steal. We have a safe place here, stay with us."

Laura cast him a tiny smile. "Thank you for the offer, but I have a mission, I must keep going. I need transportation."

"There is none," the old man insisted. The road are blocked with show, and even if you do get a boat, not much farther, the river is frozen over. That is how we found this place. We have very little food, Juane was going out to bring us food, but he was found and killed by those horrible machines!"

The words 'horrible machines' did irritate Laura, but she knew Sky Net machines were he only ones this man had seen. He didn't know were were good ones as well. "Where was Juane getting this food?" she asked.

"A store a few blocks away. None of us are very healthy, he was the only out who could go. He could run away when he saw them. Last time he was caught," the old mans said, looking sad.

"I'm sorry," Laura offered. "I'll get you some food when I go look for transportation." She turned to leave.

"No, if they find you, they will kill you!" the old man stated.

Laura cast him a crooked grin and said, "No, I will be killing them. Hide while I'm gone. I will beat on the door three times when I come back."

"But ... you are a healthy young woman! It would be such a shame if they got you," he insisted.

Laura put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I will be fine, don't worry. I'll be back."

The old man swallowed and said, "I will pray for you."

Laura left, shutting the door behind her. One thing she noticed here, there were no cars. She searched the marina, then made her way out into town where she did find some snow covered cars. brushing the snow off, some were burned, others had bullet holes and bodies in them. She also noted tracks in the snow, terminator's who'd been on patrol around town. Coming to a car dealership that still had those triangular flags flying around the empty lot, the glass wall of the showroom were shattered. She went inside and looked in the garage area. Nothing. Leaving the dealership, she did find the grocery store. Going in, she found some bodies. At least she knew where the food was now. She still needed something to travel the snow covered roads.

At an auto garage, she found a wrecker. There was a plasma hole in the door, and frozen gore inside it. She pulled the remains of the body out, and found keys in the ignition. She tried to start it. The engine kicked over. It was rough, but it did run. It had a half tank of gas. Leaving it running, she went looking for gas. She found empty cans at the station, and a four foot tall gas tank out back. The float on top said it was a quarter full. She backed the wrecker up to it and filled the tank, then gathered the six cans she found and filled them up too and put them in the back.

Driving to the store, she pushed a cart around to grab the rest of the canned food, then a can opener. She grabbed other utensils, bags of charcoal, then every box and bag of cereal to fill the cart. She took the cart out and lifted up onto the back of the truck, tipped in towards the lift so it wouldn't fall out, then went back in to grab another cart and fill that one up with lots of bottled water, some soda and snack chips. The bread couldn't be trusted, some of it looked green. She did take all the peanut butter she could find and the rest of the canned vegetables. Figuring two cars full would last them a while, She put that cart on the truck.

"You stealin from my store?" a hard voice said from behind her.

Laura turned to see a man pointing a shotgun at her.

"Gimme the keys to your truck, Now!" he snapped.

Laura frowned at hm. They were fighting a war, and this guy planned on robbing her. "This food is for people who can't come get some themselves," she stated.

"Keys, now, or I run over your dead body on my way out!" The man snapped.

Laura formed a plasma canon as she raised he arm. He had time to stare at her arm before she shot and obliterated his shotgun and half his head. he fell backwards, dead. Laura got in the wrecker and drove back to the Marina to give those people some food. On her way out, the rear tires ran over the rest of his head. Laura knew life was sacred, but that guy was willing to shoot her just for having something he didn't. Let God figure out what to do with him.

.

Laura hauled the two carts over to the warehouse door and banged three times on it. This time, it was a thin blonde woman who peeked out. "I got food," Laura told her.

The woman's eyes went wide. She opened the door. Laura hauled the two carts inside. "I got enough to last you for a while," Laura told her. "If I can come back, then I'll get you out of here to someplace safe."

The woman gaped at her. "Why can't you stay? Those metal things will kill you out there!"

"No," Laura said in a musing tone, "I'm going to kill them." She then winked at the woman and shut the door on her way out.

Getting into her wrecker, Laura drove away, found the main road out to the east and blazed a trail though the snow in her wrecker.

.

After two days, the radio static cleared up. Sky Net Europe got reports that the jamming signals had been found and stopped, and it's forces were in Spain. Human equipment had been found, but leaving the mountains, no further contact with the humans themselves had been discovered yet, other than a battle to the north. The humans were retreating. Sky Net gave the order to ensure every inch of land was covered. Apparently the resistance in the mountains had been their only defense. Soon, it's units would destroy any humans in Spain and put an end to those resisting.


	28. Chapter 28

CH 28

Laura managed a solid 40 miles an hour, plowing along in her wrecker. The truck was heavy enough that the tires got a good grip, and small enough that most blocks she was able to drive around or push through. On her third day of travel, she was headed for the town of Nancy. So far she had not seen a single Sky Net unit. She did see an radio repeating tower. Making her left arm into a plasma canon, she shot it down on her way past. Other than a stop to refill the gas tank from the cans she'd collected, she drove non-stop.

The engine was making knocking and banging noises, but kept on running as she drove past a sign that said she was in Nancy now. The solid white snowstorm being kicked up behind her has she drove along was now a darker gray from the smelly exhaust from the truck. Heading down the main street, a bang sounded from the engine. The hood shook and the engine stopped. Laura pulled it over to the side and hit a big lump of snow that was hiding a small car. Laura turned the key off. Oh well, she just had to find another ride.

The street here was desolate. silent buildings with broken glass, doors were broken in here and there. The snow was not pristine, there were vehicle tracks, mid street the snow was packed down. Laura walked a ways, looking down side streets. It was the same with the streets not filled with debris. She stopped at seeing a heat source behind a pile of snow and wrecked car in an alley, pushed sideways to jam it in place. It looked like it might be a human. She walked down the alley towards the wrecked car.

A side door to her right burst open. A T-800 stepped out and raised it's plasma gun. Using her fast thinking, Laura stepped towards it and pushed the gun up with one hand and kicked it in the jaw. The T-800 stumbled back. She grabbed it's head and rammed it into the brick wall, cracking the wall. Grabbing the rifle, she yank it out of the terminator's hand, threw the gun behind her then punched the terminator to keep it off balance. The terminator tried to grab her. She clamped down on his wrist and jerked herself behind it, or tried to. The terminator was bigger and threw her off.

The T-800 was bigger and had more strength. Laura was faster. She jumped up from where she landed and dove on the plasma rifle. Rolling to her feet, she stood, took aim and shot, removing the other terminator's neck and lower jaw/skull. It fell flat, the head bounced off the wall.

Laura searched for any other threats. Seeing none, she went to the doorway and looked in. It looked like a typical back room with shelves of stock and waste cans. Seeing a bin of tools, she did retrieve a screwdriver and a utility knife. Going back outside she picked up the half-head and dug the chip out, then pocketed it.

It was then Laura heard raspy breathing.

Listening closely, she noted it was coming from the snow covered car sideways in the ally. walking over, the windows had a white coating on the inside. She grabbed the door handle, opened the door and saw a young girl wrapped in a coat with a white sheet over her in the seat. The girl's eyes went wide, gaping at her. A short yelp came from the girl, and she cringed back.

In French, Laura said, "Don't be afraid, I got him."

The girl blinked then looked to see the terminator lying on the ground. "You killed it?" she asked.

"I took it's gun too," Laura said and hefted the plasma rifle. "Have you seen a working vehicle here?"

The girl got out and grinned happily. "You really killed it! It can't chase me any more!" she beamed. The girl grabbed Laura's hand with her tiny one and said, "Come, I'll show you where it's safe!"

Laura let the girl pull her into the building and said, "I need to keep moving. I need transportation."

"There is none," the girl said. "Nothing works any more. I got a nice place that's not too cold and there's still food left. With you here, I won't have to run and hide any more."

Laura watched the girl go in and lift up a trap door in the floor that revealed steps going down. It was a little tight, Laura had to crouch going down the stairs. In the room below, the girl lit an oil lamp, then ran up to close the trap door and push a bolt to lock it shut. Coming back down the stairs, the girl pulled the sheet off herself to show she had light brown hair. Taking off her outer coat, Laura also noticed the girl was skinny.

"It will be so nice to have company!" the girl beamed. "What's your name?"

"Laura," Laura said as she looked around the small cellar space. Bedding with a ragged doll was on a table, underneath were some boxes of food. a few trinkets were on a shelf. the other table held the oil lamp and a half bottle of water. "You live here by yourself?"

"Just me and Betty," the girl said and grabbed the doll off her pillow to show Laura. Holding the doll to face Laura, the girl said, "Betty, this is Laura, she killed that metal thing that was killing everyone. She's a hero!"

"I'm just Laura. Who are you?'

"I'm Anne," she said happily. "We can go upstairs and get a mattress, sheets and blankets for you, Laura. This is soooo great!"

Laura could see this girl was aching for some kind of companionship. She was surviving, however. Slowly, Laura said, "Anne, I can't stay. I have to go east to the Maginot line."

Anne cast her a hurt look. "You can't stay with me? You are going to leave me like Mommy and everyone else did?"

Laura was about to say she had to, when Anne plowed into her and hugged her tight. "Please no! Don't leave me all alone any more!" Anne wailed into her stomach.

Laura set the plasma rifle down and embraced the child. No children should not be forced to be alone. "Anne, I'm going into a war zone. You can't come with me," Laura said gently.

"Then stay here! I don't want to see any more people die! I thought I was the last one, but now you're here, so please don't leave!" Anne cried.

"I can't, I'm sorry," Laura offered.

"Then I'll come with you!" Anne cried.

"No!" Laura pulled Anne back and sat down on a chair so she was eye level with Anne. "Listen to me, I must go or many, many more will die. I can come and get you on the way back, but it is too dangerous for you to come with me. You could well die, and neither of us wants that."

"And what if YOU die?" Anne asked, becoming angry.

"I won't," Laura said and flashed her eyes red.

Anne just stared at her for a moment, then asked, "Are you a monster, or something like that?"

"Something like that," Laura agreed. "I will come back to pick you up but I must leave now."

"That's how you killed that metal thing!" Anne said happily, "You're a better monster than it was!"

There was so much wrong with what Anne just said, but Laura only smirked and said, "Right, I'm a better monster. So, will you stay here and keep yourself safe until I get back?"

"Will you promise you'll come back?"

"Yes," Laura said firmly.

Frowning, Anne asked, "What kind of monster are you?"

With a grin, Laura said, "That's a secret."

Anne grinned. "I won't tell," she offered.

"I know dear." Thinking of something to make Anne feel better, Laura picked up the plasma rifle and asked, "How about if I show you how to use this so you can use it in case you have to?"

Anne nodded.

"Ok, we can go for a walk and I'll show you how it works, OK?"

.

Laura went back out, Anne with her. Laura kept her senses sharp as she searched for a vehicle to use. Once she was sure there were no other terminators around, Laura gave Anne the plasma rifle and showed her how to hold it. Pointing to a stop sign, Laura said, "Point at the stop sign and try to hit it."

Anne pointed the rifle and pulled the trigger. A plasma bolt shot out and wiped out the post below the sign before the bolt hit the building beyond and blasted out an oval of shattered brick out onto the street.

"I got it!" Anne cried happily.

"Almost, you were a bit low," Laura commented. "You do see what it does?"

"Yeah, it blows big holes in things," Anne replied, grinning.

"You don't use it unless you have no choice," Laura said firmly. "Running and hiding is best so you aren't seen. If you can't then you shoot. The ... metal monsters," she said, nearly choking on the words, "I know how to shoot very well, so this is only if you can do nothing else to save yourself."

Anne nodded, "OK." She then looked up at Laura and asked, "But if I take yours, then what will you have to shoot them with?"

"I have two more. You keep that one," Laura assured her.

Walking through the town, Laura found an ATV store. Inside the show room, there were the standard four wheelers, a few motorbikes and an odd looking thing. It was like a four wheeler, but instead of wheels, it had a pair of tracks. Laura looked in the gas tank, it was empty. Anne sat on a four wheeler, making engine noises while Laura went out and ripped the gas tanks out of a couple cars. one tank sloshed and was fairly heavy. She used the tank to fill the tank on the tracked ATV, then found a couple cans to pour the rest of the gas in. In a key locker Laura broke open, she found the keys to the thing and started it up.

Anne rode in front of Laura on the way back to Anne's hide out. While they were out, they stopped at a store and got some canned and dry food and more oil for Anne's lamp. Laura also picked up a map that showed this area of France. It even showed historical points like the Maginot line. With the shopping done, Laura returned to Anne's cellar. She helped get the supplies down into the hideout and reminded Anne again that she would be back, and to be very careful. Laura received another tight hug from Anne, then got on her tracked ATV and headed east for the Maginot line. By what the map said, and the direction they pinpointed Sky Net at, it was between two of the historical sights, on a hill.

.

The good thing about this tracked ATV, it floated across the snow like a Stug. Laura wasn't restricted to the roads. All she needed was fairly flat, be it road, ice or hills. Being a TX, the cold normally didn't bother her but flying along in the cold wind she was a little concerned about her skin freezing and cracking, so she stopped after a few hours in a remote farm house. There was no one home, It did have a fireplace, so she broke up some furniture and made a fire. A stuffed chair she kept she used to sit in front of the fireplace with. While she let her skin warm up, she looked around. She found a compass to make sure she was headed for the right spot. Looking in the kitchen she found a sturdy carving knife. That also might come in handy.

After Laura felt her temperature go up and the fire was burning down to coals, she got back out on her ATV and kept going east. Ahead were the low hills the Maginot line was formed in.

.

It was four days after Laura had left that Charles decided to risk a trip to the store to see if they had any medicine. Seeing the bravery of that woman Laura, he figured he could be at least as brave. He was old, but he wasn't dead yet, and if the kids were sick, he had to do what he could for them.

Walking along on the snow covered street, he heard a far off rumbling. Not quite placing the noise, he stopped and listened. The noise was growing and there were squeaking sounds, kind of like a bulldozer, only it wasn't just one and these sounded faster. With his frail hearing it finally hit him what he was listening to and now feeling in his feet.

Tanks were coming. A whole bunch of tanks.

Not knowing which side these tanks were on, Charles decided to head back to the warehouse. He turned to go back and saw a small tank turn into this street, flinging snow. This one moved to one side of the street and another turned the corner and got on the other side. They slowed as they approached. Behind them, more and more appeared to come on and move down side streets. Briefly, Charles was sure he was about to get run over.

The growing number of tanks slowed, then stopped in front of him. A man got out of one and jumped down to ask, "Do you need assistance?"

"Medicine for the kids," he said vacantly. "Who ... are we winning?" he asked.

"Bob! what's up?" a man asked, sticking his head out of the hatch.

"This guy has sick kids! We need some medics," Bob called.

One of the men on top jumped off. "I'll wait for them."

"Thanks," Bob said and got back up and down in the hatch. "Driver, go!"

The man that got off came over to Charles as the machines rolled on down the road. "Sir, you do not look well. Are there many of you?"

"Only nine of us left," Charles said. "Are you French army?" he asked.

"No, Resistance from North America. John Connor's army. We're here to eliminate Sky Net, who started this war."

Charles watched the solid line of small tanks roll by. Then a group of large American tanks rumbled down the street. A tracked vehicle a little lower and wider appeared. The solider by Charles waved to it. It pulled over to the side.

"We have sick?" a woman asked as she stuck her head out.

"Yes, he will show us," the soldier said, and had Charles lead the way.

Charles took them back to the warehouse and led them in and showed them their 'crate house' inside the warehouse.

The soldier and a dark haired female solder came in with him. The woman asked, "Sir, have you seen anyone or any vehicles recently?"

"One woman. She was looking for a vehicle. Her name was Laura Reese," Charles explained.

The dark haired woman eyed him. "Laura Reese was here?"

"For days ago," Charles said with a nod.

The dark haired woman grabbed her radio and said, "General Reese, Laura was here four days ago. She was looking for transportation."

Derek was stunned. Laura should have been on a ship and headed for the Azores, or back to the east coast, not in the middle of France looking for a ride. And four days ago, how did she get so far ahead of them? Right after he got this news, the lead Stug reported finding a single track heading out to the east. He sent the lead squad out ahead, max speed to follow those tracks.

"What are you doing, Laura?" he asked no one.

.

Laura was lying on the snow atop a knoll, scanning the hill before her. She'd found the one tourist center on the Maginot line, and came to the spot where Sky Net was suppose to be. There were two H/K tanks bracketing a small entrance, and terminators were on guard around the hill. She also noted long gun barrels poking out of emplacements in top of the rounded bunker and a huge gun turret above. She wasn't going to be forcing her way in there any time soon.

Sliding back out of sight, Laura went back down to her ATV. When she returned to it, a man standing by it. He turned to watch her come down. A she approached, she noticed a few things. There was something wrong with his face. When he turned his head, the motion was jerky, just like a T-800 series. His turn to face her was the same. His spoke and his voice sounded tinny, his mouth didn't quite match his words as he said, "I need a ride to where you came from."

"How did you find me?" Laura asked and stopped ten feet from him.

The terminator pulled a pistol and stated, "I need a ride to where you came from."

"You can't get to there from here, at least on that ATV," Laura stated. "I asked how you found me."

"You will take me to where you came from, or I will shoot you," he stated.

Laura morphed her arm into a plasma canon. "You shoot me, I'll shoot you. I may be found but you will be terminated," Laura replied and flashed her eyes

The terminator cocked his head slightly. "You cannot do that. You are human."

"No, I am not and neither are you. How did you find me."

The terminator looked at her plasma canon, scanned her up and down, then looked at her plasma canon again. "You are an unknown model. Where did you come from?"

"I will tell you after you inform me of how you found me. I may have a deficiency in my stealth program."

The terminator twitch it's head. "I was searching for humans. I heard the engine noise, then found the tracks of this machine. I scanned it and you returned. What model are you?"

Laura thought about lying, but if she was of interest and taken into the bunker system by a terminator that was recognizable, then she would be allowed to pass within. "I am a model TX, the latest model made in North America, in Los Angeles. I was sent here to test my abilities then bring a message to Sky Net Europe of my Model's success."

The terminator stated, "Submit to chip removal and I will take you in to show Sky Net the advancements in North America."

Damn, she thought, she almost had an in. She could not let Sky Net get her chip, or even let this terminator inform Sky Net of what she just told him. "I am sorry," she said and shot him in the head, obliterating it. His neck stump sparked as the body fell over.

After burying the terminator in the snow, she got on her ATV and went back the way she came. She needed to find out more about this bunker system. A good place to do that would be one of those visitor centers.

.

Lt. Rogers was at the head of the line of four Stugs racing along following the tracks of the dual rear wheeled truck. Some blocks had been gone around, others were pushed to the side. One car upside down off the road, he slowed to see the tracks of someone who'd gotten out and moved it by hand. Looking at the tracks, one of the TX' riding on the top said, "By the size and depth of the footprint, it was a female model TX who moved that car."

"Yup, that's my conclusion as well," Lt. Rogers said and got back on. As he got in the hatch, he called inside, "Pete! Tell the Captain we are on Laura Reese's trail. "Let's go, charge on boys."

The Stug moved on racing to catch up with this truck. Behind it, the others followed.

.

Laura scanned the visitor's center closely. There was no guard here, at least no visible one. sneaking up to within a hundred yards, she searched for cameras and other sensors. The center was a piece of the original bunker system, one of the big guns that used to be on top was in the center of a wide circular drive. A small building was butted up against the actual fortress stating in large letters over the door that this was the famous impassable Maginot line.

Laura didn't think it was all that impassable, the Germans had bypassed it completely during the second World War, and the French got their asses kicked.

Still cautious, Laura approached under cover , scanning the area until she got close, then walked into the visitor's center. Inside, there were photos of parts of the bunker system, barracks, dinning rooms, even a railway deep underground that connected all the parts of the line. She bypassed the visitor registration desk, pausing to take a pen, then looked at the wall diagram of the entire line. She committed this to memory, grabbed a pamphlet that had the same information in it, then walked down into the 'guided tour' area where she went down steps and into the bunkers.

The tour went through one of the ammunition staging area where mannequins dressed as French soldiers were posed to push carts and operate a lift that went below. Laura looked down the shaft. It only went a few feet and was blocked off by a heavy steel grating.

Inspecting the lift, she found this was a real piece of the fortress. Hopefully, it could handle weight. She disconnected the chain from the fake canon shell and dropped it down the shaft. She moved the Mannequin pretending to operate the hoist, then turned the handle to make sure it worked. Drawing up the chain until a few links were left down on the grating, she got on the chain and lowered herself down into the grating. Holding on with one hand, she used small beam plasma shots to weld the chain to the center of the grating then cut the grating loose. When she and the grating were dangling free, she went back up and lowered the chain down until she was almost out of chain.

Climbing down the chain she came to a room that didn't look nearly as nice a the 'displayed' area above. Even in infrared, she saw every metal piece was rusted, rust streaks ran down from where metal had been attached to the walls. There was also debris on the floor. Very shoddy if this was a national monument.

The room had two exits, a normal door size exit and a wider one with tracks leaving. Laura followed the tracks that angled down into an underground train station. The tracks, like the rest of this place were brown with rust, the ties rotting away. This would have to be the 'in'. Standing on the tracks, Laura listened for any sounds. Very weak, she did hear footsteps. Sky Net was using these train tracks. Laura weighed her options. IF she was caught, she was only one here and had no backup. On the other hand, if she could sneak closer to see where Sky Net was, then she would have more information.

Laura took her boots off and left them on the platform to make her steps softer. She opted to step slowly down the tracks to find out what part of this railway was being used. Right away she learned the rail line was not flat. she went up a grade, even for a while to another platform that was falling apart, then down again. She walked slowly through a section the had water in it, getting as deep to her as mid-chest, then she went up again. Now, she could hear a generator running. Bending low when she saw light up ahead at the top of a grade, she crept slower to peek over the top. It was another platform. Terminators were removing the rusted track to carry them up. On the platform, the light she saw was on the controls for the large generator, the exhaust pipe went up through a shaft, most likely another ammo lifting shaft.

It was tempting to line up and plasma the crap out of that generator, but she'd this operation from only one side. She needed to know what was down the line. If she destroyed this generator, and there were others, she would not disable Sky Net here. She did have a thought of just walked in like she belonged there. The rubberish skin covered terminator had not recognized her as another terminator though. With her bio-synthetic covering, it had believed she was human. As best, she would only force Sky Net to move again and let it know someone was after it. Laura began the trek back the way she came, noting how far she'd gone down the rail line. Every piece of information she was gathering may be critical.

.

Anne was bundled up in her heavy coat with a sheet over her In her wraps, Betty was with her. The doll's head sticking out of sheet just under her neck. In her arm she held the plasma rifle Laura had given her. Peeking around a corner, Anne whispered, "See anything, Betty? I don't." Sure there were no silver monsters around, Anne hurried to the other side of the street and into the broken ruins of a shop she'd gotten her oil lamp out of.

It used to smell good in here. The scents of candles and potpourri lingering almost magically in the air. Between the broken windows, some snow that drifted in and the frozen body behind the counter, the smells and magical atmosphere was gone. Anne helped herself to a courtesy bag. She couldn't fill the bag and hold the rifle, so the put the rifle on the counter and took the bag to get two more bottles of the strawberry lamp oil. She liked that smell when it burned. It was like a tiny bit of joy was being saved. She and Betty could sleep better with the pleasant fragrance in the air. Besides the oil for the lamp, she put in a couple shiny bracelets. When Laura came back to get her, she wanted to give Laura a present. Laura was a nice monster, maybe Laura would decide to live with her and Betty.

Hearing a noise behind her, Anne froze in place. In the doorway was a white colored monster. It had it's own rifle. Hers was on the counter, close by it. She was in the other end of the room. There was no way she could reach it. Frantic for a way to save herself, Anne roared out in little girl anger, "Hey! You do anything to me and Laura will hunt you down and pull you apart!"

The machine tipped it's head. "You know Laura Reese?"

"Yes! So you better go away before something bad happens to you!" Anne announced boldly.

The monster grabbed her rifle off the counter, turned and walked out.

Anne was barely aware of the fact he took the rifle Laura had given her. She breathed a sigh of relief that her threat worked! Apparently Laura was such a good monster, the others were afraid of her. Giddy that she had survived, Anne went to leave then noticed her rifle was gone. Oh well, if just mentioning Laura's name was enough to scare away the monsters, then she didn't need it. Anne grabbed a jar candle, this one was jasmine scent. That smelled really good too. She walked out to see another monster walking up the road and another job by the other way. Neither chased after her. Feeling bold, Anne walked back to her place. The monsters wouldn't mess with her now, SHE knew Laura!

.

So far, the only thing in the town of Nancy that had been found was a 9 to 11 year old girl who had a plasma rifle. The terminator who found her took the rifle away, but let the girl go about her business. Derek walked down the alley where the girl's cellar hideout was. Hhe went into the building and noted the trap door. Squatting down by it, he knocked and called, "Hello? Have you seen Laura?" There was no answer, she he knocked again. "Hello down there! Have you seen Laura?"

A tiny voice answered, "Go away or Laura will be mad at you!"

"I'm looking for Laura," Derek said. "Laura is special to me. I'm afraid she might get hurt, so I need to find her and help her."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Laura's boyfriend," Derek said with a grin.

A bolt was thrown and the girl opened the trap door. "Are you a monster?" Anne asked.

Derek snorted out a laugh. "No, I just want to make sure Laura is all right. She took on a task that may be too hard for her. Can you tell me where she went?"

Anne shook her head. "No, but she said she would come back for me after she was done killing the bad monsters."

"How did Laura leave? Did she walk?" Derek asked.

"No, she got one of those ATV things that had tracks on it, that was fun to ride," Anne said with a grin.

Derek pointed out the door at a T-800 that was standing outside the door. "I'm going to leave this one to guard you to make sure you are safe. Will that be OK?"

Anne nodded. "They know Laura is a better monster than they are, so that's fine."

Derek wasn't sure how to take that. "OK, I have to go, be good, we'll be back when we can."

"Bye," Anne said and shut the trap door.

Derek went out and let the searchers know what Laura left here driving. They had to be careful also, they were getting closer to the Maginot line.

.

Laura climbed back up the chain into the visitor's center. She used the hoist to pull the grating up to about where it was suppose to be. After getting the mannequins back in place, she left. Getting back to her ATV, she went to the southern visitor's center five miles away. Here, there were terminators patrolling the area. She moved on, and looked for another entry back into the bunker system. a couple miles farther, she found an entrance that was sealed over with brick. The snow on the ground was smooth, no tracks, so she broke her way in.

This entry went down a short hallway that ended in a steel door that was open a crack. Laura pulled hard to open the door. It groaned and squeaked, shedding bits of rust as it reluctantly opened. Inside was the remains a steel spiral staircase going up on one side, and the shafts for ammunition near the other wall. The shafts went up though, not down on the floor. There was a door on the far side. This one she pushed open to see a small room with a shaft in the floor. The hoist though was rusted solid. At least there was no grating in the shaft. Then again, there was no chain either. She had to find another way down.

Following dark hallways, Laura did find concrete steps leading down to a train platform. Again she took her boots off and walked down the railway tunnel. Thankfully, this time she didn't have to walk through any flooded sections. Having to use internal heating to keep her skin from freezing was making her a glowing infrared target. Only a mile back down the tunnel and she was hearing a soft generator noise. She noted the track in this section was gone. The rails had been salvaged. The rises and dips were less. Ahead she could see some light two hundred yards down the tunnel. The track was all pulled up, only rotten rails and chunks of concrete covered the floor. She zoomed in with her vision, no terminators were in the tunnel, but there did seem to be a platform where that generator was.

Laura walked slowly on, staying near the wall to avoid being seen. Coming closer to the lighted area, the rumble of the generator was louder. Again, she could take this one out, but at least one more would be operating. Sky Net would get away. She went back the way she came. It was frustrating, but she needed help taking Sky Net out. It was dark by the time she stepped back though the entrance and got on her ATV. She headed back for the trail that brought her here. Some where on their way was Derek's army. She had to find them.

Clearing the area of the Maginot line, Laura was cruising back down her tracks in the early morning. She came down a hillside to see a Stug coming at her. She stopped and waver her arms. The Stug stopped just in front of her. A head popped up out of the hatch.

"We've been looking for you!" the commander said.

Laura called back, "I have vital information for General Reese, take me to him."

.

Laura was dirty, she smelled and Derek had no idea what was in her tangled hair, but he knew he was never so happy to see anyone in his life. After along hug and a gritty, but wonderful kiss, Derek said, I'm not happy you took off by yourself. Something could have happened to you."

Laura cast him a smirk and replied, "I did get plenty of information, so can you forgive me?"

Derek grinned back. "Always. So tell me what you got as I get your bath ready."

.

Derek took her into the farmhouse he was using for a command center that was 10 miles east of Nancy. The place was intact, had no bodies in it and had water and a wood burning kitchen stove that was also able to heat the house. Derek got a big pot of water on the stove and the firebox roaring.

Laura found a mirror and frowned, "I look horrible!"

"Naw, just a bit dirty and disheveled," Derek assured her. "So, you got good stuff?"

"I do," Laura agreed. She peeled off her jacket and tossed the pamphlets on the table. "Diagrams of the Maginot line, I found two of their generators, the general location of where Skynet is, and I met a rubber skinned terminator trying to pass for human. He thought I was human."

"Where was this?" Derek asked.

"Near the fortress line. He followed my ATV tracks," Laura said, taking off her boots and socks. "I had to terminate him. I could not afford Sky Net finding out about me, or you." She stripped off her shirt, some brown bits from the tunnel water was stuck to her and her shirt. Shaking the bits off, she added, "I found two ways in, one is a vertical shaft, the other, eight miles away, is a more normal entry. The flooded tunnel is in the tunnel to the left, with the shaft. It's not completely full. Terminators were down there so I didn't try to take them out. If Sky Net is alerted it's being attacked, it will flee."

Derek nodded in agreement as he watched her. "We need to seal off any means of escape," he said taking in her form.

"We do," Laura said and took her pants off. She then paused and asked, "Didn't bring any of my clothes, did you?"

"I had no idea you were here," Derek replied firmly. "You were suppose to be on a ship to the Azores."

Laura cast him a crooked grin. "Yes, I was bad, did you want to spank me?" she asked and turned her butt to him and gave it a wiggle.

Derek laughed.

While the water heated up, Laura showed Derek on the map the area Sky Net was in. Derek's eyes bounced from the map to Laura, who was naked. He got her a blanket, so she put it around her shoulders. Facing him, it didn't help. Once the water was hot enough, they took turns washing each other. Derek washed Laura, then Laura washed Derek, doing his back first, then laying him on his back and straddling him. The cot was ruined but they had a good time doing it. After they spent some time getting 'reacquainted', and Laura's uniform was cleaned and hanging up to dry, Derek called a meeting in the morning on what they were going to do. For tonight, it was cuddle time with Laura.

.

The section of fortress Sky Net was in was possibly 8 miles long. In the area beyond the fortress no Sky Net units had been seen. All the Sky Net that flooded into Spain were still there. Since the possible area was only 8 miles long Derek had enough troops to cover both sides and put troops in the tunnels. The first strikes would be to take out communications, then they could pound holes into the bunkers and send rockets down the tunnels to blow up generators and any other support equipment. The French side of the fortress held all the door and entry places. The German side showed nothing but gun turrets and machine gun ports.

.

Sky Net Europe was following the progress of it's units in Spain closely. The devastation to Sky Net Spain in Barcelona was found. Humans had somehow destroyed it and all it's equipment. Sky Net Asia began to give it's theory, then sent silent. The fortress vibrated, the attack alarms sounded. A generator went out. Up and down the line, reports flooded in of being attacked. An entry was breached. Sky Net's immediate response was to attack the intruders. Another generator went out. The fortress shuddered again, Sky Net demanded reports. Nothing was coming back.

.

On the start signal, Stugs, artillery and M1's opened up on the fortress structure, focusing on the entry doors. Platoons fired at one spot on the outer walls, blasting concrete out dig holes in the fortress. Upon those attacks commencing, at both ends where Laura had found entrances, teams went on to plant explosives near the generators and set timers. By the time they got there, all the terminators were headed to join the battle up at ground level. The explosives set, the teams hurried back up and out. When the charges went off, the old concrete cracked. The fires from the burning fuel weakened the concrete more. The vibrations from the guns caused a partial collapse. Terminators tried to get outside to fight off the attackers, but met a wall of plasma fire on their way out the narrow door ways.

It took a while, but the concrete bunkers of the Maginot line crumbled. Sky Net Europe was crushed and buried under tons of debris.

.

Returning to Nancy, Laura rode with Derek in his carrier. The battle done, they had some sex and a lot of cuddling before they got into town. The carrier pulled up to the alley where Anne's cellar was. Laura held Derek's hand as they got out and went inside to knock on the trap door.

"Anne! It's Laura, are you in there?' Laura called.

Fast feet thumped up the steps then Anne threw the hatch upon. Seeing Laura, she beamed a big smile and ran up to hug her. "You're back!" Anne cried happily.

Laura returned Anne's hug. "Hey sweetie, have you meet Derek?"

Anne pulled back and nodded. "I did! Did he help you beat the bad monsters?"

"He sure did," Laura agreed. "Now, what we both want to know is if you and Betty want to come live with us."

"Betty?" Derek asked.

"Anne's Betty, that stays with her?" Laura asked.

Derek eyed her and asked, "There's another kid?"

"Betty is Anne's dollie," Laura informed him.

"You're not going to live with me?" Anne asked, looking puzzled.

"Anne, we came to get you so you don't have to live in that small cellar any more," Laura told her. "You will be safe with us."

"It will be much better than living down there by yourself," Derek added.

Anne gaped at them. "But ... my bed's down here, so is my lamp, candles and food."

"Just bring your stuff with you," Derek told her. "We got a nice house that will be my headquarters for a while."

"We'll get help to come down and get your things," Laura explained.

"OK. I'd like to live in a real house," Ann agreed happily. Anne was going to have a ne family, with a mother who was the best monster ever!


	29. Chapter 29

CH 29

Sky Net segments in Asia were getting concerned. First Spain went off line, then Europe. Studying the events logically, an invasion was taking place. How it was, there was no data. The segments all agreed they needed to know what was going on in the west. First, a new segment was partitioned out to be put in Poland. This segment was to be delivered in place by units in northern Russia. Once on place, Sky Net Poland was to investigate why Sky Net Europe was not answering and head west in search for a possible human army. Another segment, Sky Net Istanbul, was to complete the task of helping Sky Net Africa in guarding the north African coast, and send many units to find out what happened to Sky Net Spain. Sky Net North America was to investigate the British Isles to get the status of the situation there.

Humans were highly suspected as the cause due to a digital type transmission that units were picking up that were not Sky Net code, nor were they authorized by Sky Net. Deciphering the transmissions in the human style Morse code, only pieces were coherent. It could be those bits were coincidental to digital code. Digital rules were applied, and again, only parts made sense. Sky Net applied 16, 24, 32 and 48 bit protocols to the transmissions. It kept trying to find a pattern that would decode the entire transmission.

.

Derek thought they were doing well. With the Town of Nancy as their base, his army expanded out, finding terminators and disabling them for their chips. The largest expansion was to the north so they could get to a coast to make a port. Antwerp was the goal, but even it they only reached the coast, then they could get more supplies and send back the disabled terminators, and the few people they had found.

The living room of the house became the Command center. A solids burning furnace was built into the house. Since the air had to be cleaned anyway, the cold air coming in passed over the top of a Sterling engine, while the bottom sat on the furnace. with the large temperature difference, the engine lit the house LED lighting for the common rooms. The sitting room that Anne loved was partially lit by her oil lamp, which made the house smell nice. A few trips to the 'neat stuff store' as Anne called it got them the rest of the stock of lamp oil as well as an assortment of candles.

Laura was strict on how the house was partitioned inside. Derek's work was in the 'command center', and if they worked late, like they usually did, then they were allowed in the dinning room to eat as well. No one but her, Derek and Anne were allowed in the sitting room, or in any of the bedrooms. THOSE were 'family' areas. of course Anne had to stay out of the command center also.

With Anne's breakfast every morning, Laura made sure she got breast milk to drink. Maybe she was just happier, but after two weeks of living here Anne got color back in her cheeks and was much more active. She also helped with housework and cooking. Laura was very pleased with the girl.

Anne needed clothes, as did Laura. They went shopping in a woman's store that was mostly intact. It has a 'young miss' section also. They spent a few hours picking out clothes. Careful to limit Anne's radiation exposure, Laura got them baskets to carry their new clothes in and explained why to Anne. "Anne, I do not detect large amounts of radiation but to be safe, I'll decontaminate these once we get home. Then we can wash and wear them."

Anne nodded and picked up a basket. "OK, Mom," she said and carried her load out to the carrier.

Laura froze in place, her jaw dropped. Mom. Anne had called her Mom. There was no hesitation or thinking about it. The word just rolled off her tongue naturally, like it was fact. Laura found she was blinking tears. She wiped them away, feeling so very happy.

.

John was glad Derek had gotten Sky Net Europe. There were still a massive amount of Sky Net's minions to clean up there, but the head had been cut off the beast, making that task possible. John Henry also explained Sky Net North America's job to go find out the status of the British Islands. The Mayan President wanted experienced warriors so much of General Jacobson's troops were Mayans activity hunting down Sky Net units. Currently, they held most of the northern section of South America. Having Mayan troops also helped the people hiding in the jungles to eagerly join the fight. The Mayan General was now in Jacobson's staff to learn how to be a good general for the freedom and safety of the Mayan people, and their friends who followed John Connor.

Seeing how John Henry's Sky Net met his own goals, John authorized sending ships with an escort to the south coast of England. They could also meet up with Derek's troops and help clear out the harbor at Antwerp where Derek's forces were heading.

TX's and white clad terminators were being pumped out in Los Angeles, the factory complex in Missouri and another factory complex had just started in New Jersey. The operation to investigate England had 5000 human troops, 9000 terminators and 500 Stugs. If the European Sky Net was down, then any terminators in England would only be fighting by themselves. There would be no large scale coordination.

Cameron came up and put an arm around John as he was studying his world map. "John, you can count Spain and France as ours now," she told him.

John winced and said, "Not yet, there is still a huge amount of France we haven't been in, and Spain has that huge million unit Sky Net army wandering around there. I'm only counting the places we know where Sky Net is not."

"That is cautious." Cameron agreed. "Do you remember the vital meeting we have tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" John asked, eyeing her. He racked his brains, but could not think of any vital meeting he was suppose to attend.

"Daniel and Claire's anniversary party?" Cameron prodded. "We've missed it for the last three years, and I did tell Claire I'd babysit while she and Daniel went down to the Yucatan for a few day's vacation."

John opened his mouth to say he hadn't forgotten. But he did. It had skipped his mind completely. The way Cameron eyed him, she already knew the truth. "Sorry," he offered.

Cameron smirked and kissed his cheek. "That's why I arraigned transportation for Daniel and Claire. Allison will be staying with us until they return."

"Ok," he said weakly. As she told him about it, he did remember talking about it and agreeing to keep Allison while the couple vacationed. Bad John, he shouldn't have forgotten. He wanted to say something to prove he hadn't even thought about their anniversary. "Thanks, Cam, you're a life saver."

"I just talked to John Henry," Cameron said, changing the subject, for which John was thankful. "He has solved the first part of the conception problem. Two volunteer TX's have successfully pro-created. He is watching the fetus development carefully. If all goes well, then I will be able to grow working ovaries and Fallopian tubes."

"That's great!" John said and hugged her. "So then we will be able to have a baby?"

"Not yet. There is still the mystery of egg production and getting human DNA and machine code to mesh successfully with each other, but it is a start," Cameron explained.

"There's a lot to it, huh?" John asked.

"There is, and at the moment, no one knows how much."

Seeing Cameron's face dim, John said, "I'm sure with John Henry working at it, the solution will be found." Casting her a hopeful look, John asked, "Practice with me?"

Seeing his silly face, Cameron grinned at him. "Practice makes perfects," she said and clasped his hand.

.

The next day, Sarah came with Daniel and Claire. Allison was going on seven. Becoming old enough to know who Cameron was, Allison didn't recognize her at first when they got on the transport at the air field since she had not seen Cameron in recent years. Allison watched the woman hug her mother and Father as they happily greeted each other and took seats facing each other.

Allison noted things. Cameron had her hair color. She also had her face. Mother introduced Cameron as her older sister.

"Hi," Allison offered.

"Hi Allison, can you stay with us a few days after the party?" Cameron asked, beaming her a smile.

Allison nodded, then asked, "If you're my sister, then why don't you live with us?"

"I'm married to John, so I live with him," Cameron explained.

Allison looked at John, then asked, "John Connor?"

"That's right," Cameron agreed.

Allison looked at John again then said, "He's not ten feet tall."

The adults chuckled. "No, sorry, I'm not," John told her.

Allison looked at Cameron again and asked, "So, my sister is the Tin Miss?"

Cameron glowered at Sarah for a moment, then turned back to Allison. "That's just what Sarah calls me," she explained.

Allison shook her head. "Uh uh, Becky said John Connor is married to the Tin Miss, who is really strong and scares away the bad Sky Net things. You can pick them up and throw them around."

"You're famous, hon," John said with a smirk.

"You are!" Allison said happily. She then looked at Claire and asked, "Mom, why didn't you tell me that my sister was the Tin Miss?"

"Because her name is Cameron," Claire said evenly. "Allison, do not believe all the things you hear."

"My name is Cameron and not Tin Miss," Cameron stated, flicking her eyes at Sarah.

"But Tin Miss makes you sound like you're special," Allison exclaimed.

"Cameron is special in her own way," John offered, "But she is still Cameron."

To change the subject, John asked, "So Mr. and Mrs. Young, ready for a vacation in Cancun?"

"Are we ever!" Daniel said. "Just tell me there's no snow down there and we'll actually get to see sunshine."

"No snow," John confirmed, "But the climate is cooler, around 60 degrees, and there is sun. You do know that area is controlled my the Mayans now?"

"The Mayan Indians?" Claire asked.

"Yes. Mexico no longer has a viable government, but they to in the south of Mexico, due to the Maya. Their President is working with us to stabilize Mexico and Central America. He's even send some of his troops into south America with us to reclaim it and help us look for survivors," John explained. "We are helping each other."

"It's good to know there are other people still around besides us," Daniel said. "Sky Net didn't wipe everyone out."

"Not for lack of trying," John told him. "They did kill billions, just not all of us."

"I take it you have some sort of trade in progress?" Claire asked.

"We do. At the moment it's kind of rough, but we're working on it," John told her.

"The fruit!" Daniel said happily. "it's still warm enough to grow fruit down there, THATs where it's coming from!"

John nodded. "And we're working on a real monetary value system to be sure the trade is fair. we need to implement that anyway."

"What about Guatemala and the rest of those small countries in Central America?" Claire asked.

"The entire Yucatan is now under Mayan rule, as is the rest of southern Mexico, and Central America down to Panama. We're keeping Panama due to the Canal for military usage, though Mayan ships may pass through. Like they are allowing us to freely pass though Mayan territory, we are doing the same. If a Mayan wishes to make his way, say to Florida, they can. What I learned down there is that the Mayas are very proud to be who they are. Eventually, we're going to have to establish a northern border for Mayan territory, but as of yet, there is no firm boundary line. I'm sure eventually, that will have to be determined."

"What about other places?" Daniel asked. "Have you managed to free anyone else?"

"We have taken control back of Hawaii, Wake, and are investigating Australia," John said.

"Columbia, Venezuela, Spain, Portugal and France," Cameron added.

"Those places are not secure yet," John reminded her. "We have gotten survivors out of all those places, but Sky Net troops are still there. We can't count those yet."

"Look! We're going into another mountain," Allison said, pointing to the entrance as they passed in.

"It's Cheyenne Mountain, the inside is pretty big," John told her.

"The secret military complex?" Daniel asked.

"The same," John replied.

"Wow, never thought we'd get to see this!" he beamed.

.

Getting out on the second level holding her mother's hand, Allison said, "These caverns are brighter than ours, and prettier."

"They were professionally made," her father told her. "Ours are kinda, parked in place, then build up on the spot by us."

"Cameron made your room," Mom told her proudly.

Allison's room was made of stone. Walls, floor ceiling, everything was stone except for her bed and her dresser. "Thanks Cameron" Allison said with a smile.

"We gave you a two bedroom place," Cameron said and opened the door. Ours is two doors down, this side of the street. The party will be across the street at number 23"

They went in. Although Allison knew they were underground, the inside had wood paneled walls and nice, cushy furniture. Cameron showed them around where all the rooms were.

"For underground, this is nice," Claire told her oldest daughter.

Cameron told her, "It was built for the military elite, but they never got to use it."

"Everything is ready for the dinner party, general," a female voice said behind Allison. She turned as Cameron thanked the dark haired woman. Allison looked at her, then Cameron. "Cameron, you're a General too?"

"I am," Cameron agreed. "Allison, this is Maria. She's a friend of mine."

"Hi Maria," Allison said with a wave.

"Hi Allison," Maria replied, waving back.

It was then Allison noted something on Maria and Cameron. "Why do both of you have three boobies?"

"To help distribute nanite milk better," Maria told her.

"It helps keep people healthy," Cameron added.

"Will I get another boobie when I grow up?" Allison asked.

"No, only we can grow a third breast," Cameron told her.

"That looks funny," Allison said.

"These were grown for function, not appearance," Cameron replied.

Allison frowned a bit, and asked, "But if you made two bigger, wouldn't that be the same thing?"

"They would have to be much, much bigger. I don't want to hit myself in the face when I run," Cameron explained, which made Daniel burst out laughing.

Allison looked over at her father laughing, and saw her mother smack him on the shoulder. He was visualizing too much. Alison giggled, it was funny to her too.

"OK, comedians, we should get settled," her mother announced.

.

John showed his mother to her room in the next door down. She was interested in what John was doing, so he took her to the command center. While he was showing her the room, he got the message that there was now a radar station in the Azores and a port was being made. 436 people besides the influx were on the island, and were being cared for. Most of the people from Spain were helping to build the port and making shelters. Derek's forces also encountered terminators coming from the east in Germany.

.

Sky Net was getting smart, the commander of the Stug squad noted. sitting on the back side of the hill with only his binocular scope peeking above the summit, Captain Reynolds radioed in with what he found. He gave his position and reported ten terminators spread out. T-800's with tracks on their lower bodies instead of legs. The moment he transmitted, they turned towards him.

Captain Reynolds backed up away from the hill into some dead trees to break up his outline. With the infrared light, he signaled to his other three Stugs : Sky Net terminators coming. Ten, on tracks not legs. The Stugs moved away found themselves low spots and waited for the terminators to appear over the hill. The TX's on top got off and hunkered down in the snow, plasma canons out.

A single T-800 made the summit of the hill and stopped. After a long pause, the others climbed the hill in a line. They all rolled down at the same time.

"Fire!" Captain Reynolds commanded.

The T-800's didn't even have a chance to shoot back. Plasma fire from 4 Stugs and 20 TX's melted them down. Captain Reynolds had his Stug drive back up to his original position.

The flat before the next hill was covered with terminators and H/K tanks. A swarm of H/K's were coming low, blowing up snow in a cloud.

"Shit, we're a little out numbered, retreat," he announced.

With the TX's back up on the Stugs, Captain Reynolds reported in on the radio what he found.

"Incoming!" A TX's announced. The TX's shot at the missiles headed directly for them.

"Evade!" Captain Reynolds barked.

The TX's got a few, but many were coming in. As the missiles closed, the TX's jumped off. At first, Reynolds was angry, then he realized TX's could not be captured by Sky Net. That was his last thought as a missile penetrate the top of his Stug and blew up inside, Blasting the Stug apart.

In the missile salvo, three of the four Stugs were destroyed. H.K's came to hover over the burning machines and got a rain of plasma fire from the TX's. Several H/K's fell to the ground. The rest backed away, a few moving back and forth to kick up clouds of snow. While they were obscuring themselves, the TX's ran down the Stug tracks. High above, an H/K watched them flee, staying well out of plasma range.

The line of Sky Net's forces moved on.

.

Derek was getting in reports and keeping track of where his scouts were encountering this new mass of Sky Net units. He was also learning how. The northern General was Marisa. she was setting up a defend / then fall back strategy. Twice, she used her artillery to try and cause chaos in the main Sky Net line. Using concentrated fire, her guns cleared a square mile area of Sky Net troops. She sent Stugs rushing into the gap to get behind the Sky Net line only to find more Sky Net forces further back. There forces didn't just charge ahead either. When the Studs ran in, beside failing to get behind Sky Net forces, they were attacked from both sides. Of the 200 Stugs that went into the fight, only 87 managed to get out with the help from another attack from the front. Yes, they did destroy more Sky Net forces. H/K's and H/K tank kills were verified at 463 at least. Still, Sky Net had many more extra forces. Marisa didn't. Once again, she had her forces pull back and set up the traps and ambushes she was able to.

Derek sent a long line of Stugs and M'1's into the Ardenne Forest, hoping to come at Sky Net from behind. Sky Net had the same idea and another huge battle erupted. The result was the same. In this case, Tina's command did stop thousands of terminators and H/K tanks. She also lost 3200 terminators and another 160 Stugs and all 12 M1's she had in the battle. They blasted everything in front of them and a whole new mass of units appeared. The intensity of the battle set fire to the previously frozen trees, causing many to explode from temperature difference. Like Marisa's battle, H/K's ruled the sky, Derek's forces had no air cover but did lay waste to the Sky Net troops advancing. In this case, it was the massive amounts of wrecks that stopped the battle, neither side could climb over the piled up ruins.

Derek even had snow forts set up in Belgium to confuse the advancing Sky Net forces. It didn't work, Sky Net ignored them after a few plasma shots. He had bridges and river ice blown up to stop them. That didn't work either. H/K's flew pre-made bridges in. Marisa's forces downed many H/K's but more came to fight her as others laid the bridges in place. Even the radio tower Derek used to transmit to Connor was taken out by a few H/K's that sped behind the lines. They were shot down, but not after they downed the tower.

This was deeply concerning. Not only the number of units Sky Net had, but also the better tactics they were using. There had to be an active Sky Net driving them. Derek also found out they were running out of missiles. From what Derek was seeing, Sky was bringing another huge army, and this time, he had no way to avoid or go around them. Derek was losing numbers fast. Their line was thinning out. The only option he could see was the Chunnel in Calais. Run down the Chunnel to England and blow it behind them. Seeing how Tina's forces were blocked in front, he sent her fast units to Calais to be sure the Chunnel was still intact.

In the mean time, Derek had his forces continue to defend then retreat. Another radio tower was made far from then front lines so Derek could let John know what was happening. He also activated the digital radio jammers they had left.

.

At Geel, just east of Antwerp, Marisa hid in a frozen swamp with humans, TX's, Terminators and their stugs. Down in the snow and covered with dead swamp brush, she watched as Sky Net troops passed by, searching for something ahead of them to shoot. Listening to the digital comms, Marisa noted when the jamming signal began. She stood up and gave her red eye flashes in code to attack.

This time, when her forces hit the side of the Sky Net units, they all didn't immediately turn towards her. The were slow enough that the Stugs running through mowed over terminators to shoot H/K tanks from behind. The initial mass of plasma fire into the Sky Net troops was not answered. Marisa's troops drove through Sky Net units from back to front then ran back behind the Sky Net line to do it again. Some terminators did turn around and were quickly cut down. By the time Sky Net units reacted and tried to close the now four mile long gap, Marisa swung her troops far behind and found an H/K base. The 20 H/K's sitting on the ground were plasma'd heavily, only three managed to lift off before they were blown up. heading down a river, Marisa had her troops take bridges out as they went. Sky Net had foolishly brought transports of machine parts behind their army. These were destroyed also. Early the next morning, Marisa's troops again drove though the Sky Net line back to front. During this fight, there was no time to collect disabled terminators or chips. Marisa gave the order to fry every chip so Sky Net would not get them back.

Once Marisa's force fled back to their own lines, she was ordered to begin sending her forces to the Chunnel and over to England.

.

Sky Net Asia was surprised at the ferocity of the human defense in Europe. Following history, an attack across the low lands, then a charge though the mountain forest should have broken the human line. The battle in the lowlands was gaining slow ground with the loss of many units. The humans counter attacked through the mountains, which Sky Net hadn't been expecting, and stopped it's forces from advancing. The carnage there was massive, over half it's forces were destroyed, many on top of each other. The 5000 H/K force it had was down to 1500. An advance through the forest was no longer possible. It then lost communications. Communications came back, and Sky Net discovered what had happened in the mean time.

It's lowland force was missing entire areas of units. an H/K assembly area had been destroyed, and machinery to begin a new factory was also missing, as were bridges it was using to cross rivers. Humans were not just in front of it, they had somehow gotten behind it also. Sky Net called a halt to the advance. It had to route out these destructive humans before it went any further.

 **.**

Derek kept close tabs on where his army was and what it was doing. They had taken some big hits, they had given some as well. Derek's forces had to pull back but they weren't broken. Laura was in the service tunnel of the Chunnel, the smaller, center one. Anne was with her in the carrier, and gripping Laura's hand tightly. Although Anne had to be scared, she didn't shake or cry. She just sat by Laura.

Word came through the other end of the tunnel was clear. Derek began collapsing his army through the tunnel. The forward scouts reported Sky Net units had stopped. Derek was glad to hear it, but he was thinking the stop was just to reorganize before pushing on. They had left some big dents in the Sky Net lines. Once Derek was confident his army was going to get through the tunnels unmolested, he reviewed his last orders. last out would be the scouts, then the engineers were going to blow the Chunnel so Sky Net couldn't follow them. Derek then went to the service tunnel and got in the carrier with Laura and Anne.

Watching Derek come in and sit down on the other side of Laura, Anne asked, "Dad, we're getting away from the bad monsters?"

Derek cast her a brief smile. 'Yeah, hon, we're getting away from the bad monsters."

To prevent an accident and a pileup, the speed limit was 40 miles an hour. The trip through the Chunnel was smooth. once everyone was at the other end, Derek ordered the Chunnel blown. It was a shame to destroy one end of the engineering marvel, but he could not have Sky Net following him. On this side in England, scouts were not reporting many Sky Net Units. Finding a few men in a basement, It was learned that the terminators had disappeared around five months ago. Derek equated this to the time of the buildup outside the Pyrenees mountains. Sky Net had drawn all it's units from Europe to attack Spain.

As soon as the radio tower was set up, Derek send a message to John to let him know what was happening. They were in England, and very low on ammunition and supplies. After an hour wait, a reply came back. 'Supplies and reinforcements on the way. Find the Sky Net segment.'

For the moment, that was all Derek could reasonably do. He had units headed for Plymouth England, there was a good port there and they had a decent chance of keeping sky Net away from it. In Dover, he had the first radio direction finder set up. He sent another group out to the east coast to set up another one.

.

Allison was liking spending time with Cameron. In the mornings, Cameron served a yummy breakfast. Allison got to help her sister, the famous Tin Miss, in setting the table. Allison had done this with mom, but it was exciting to to it with someone famous.

Allison was having a good time doing just about everything with Cameron. Cameron made a Chinese checkers board, which was fun to watch, then used steel bearings for the balls and showed Allison how to play. Allison even got to help put the 'jump' lines on the board. Sticking her tongue out for concentration, Allison carefully painted the lines on, copying what her big sister did. It took them a while, but the board was finished. Rechecking the lines, Allison announced, "We did it!"

Cameron thrust her arms in the and and cried, "Yay!"

"Yay!" Allison cried, copying the motion and beaming Cameron a big smile. "Can we play now!"

"Yes, I'll show you how," Cameron told her.

Allison put the plastic balls on one side like Cameron was putting the steel balls on the other. This was fun!

Cameron explained the strategy of the game and let Allison win a couple times. She had agreed to keep Allison for a few days so Daniel and Claire were able to go on a real vacation. She found she was having fun with Allison.

It also made her want her own child even more.

.

John wasn't having so much fun. He got the message of Derek's retreat into England. The losses were staggering, and unrecoverable. Half off Derek's army was gone. The reinforcements would not begin to replace what's they'd lost. From what Derek knew, they had inflicted huge losses on this Sky Net army. The numbers John did have indicated Derek's army took out at least twice the forces Derek had lost, but Sky Net could recover those. The only good thing was that if Sky Net had massed it's forces from farther east, then maybe they could find this segment and take it out without too many losses.

Spending time looking at maps and working out the most effective attack, John also got another message. Their ground attack planes had been upgraded. Experimenting with the prop drives, a new propeller and turbo-boost gave the planes another 50 MPH. They top speed now was 405 MPH and they also got a ceiling of 42,000 feet. Missile range was also increased to 20 miles. They were now able to shoot at land targets long before they were seen. All the new planes were to be back fitted with the new abilities.

John also recalled Derek and his commanders so they could plan their actions in person. He sent F-14's to go get them. He wanted to strike before Sky Net tried to cross the Channel. While John waited for them, the talked to John Henry about the Sky Nets he knew about, and to Catherine Weaver on what they were finding in Australia.

"Australia is ripe for invasion, John," Catherine said in the monitor over their secure digital link. "No Sky Net segment has been found, only wandering machines. Some humans have been found living in underground facilities. They want to get rid if Sky Net. I believe we should move while we have the chance. From what John Henry is finding, Sky Net's attention is on Europe."

John nodded slowly, then asked, "Think it may be a trap to get humans to come out? Possibly Sky Net is in Australasia and is waiting for humans to move against it?"

"I don't think so, John," Catherine replied. "Our forces there have had two minor battles. H/K's did make transmissions before they were destroyed. If Sky Net was active, it would have responded. John Henry has heard nothing."

"What kind of forces are we talking about?" John asked. "We already have two big operations going, and we're getting stretched thin."

"Mostly, weapons support for the humans in Australia," Catherine said. "The 50 TX's there can be their advisors. We let them take back their continent unless they prove they cannot. By then, at least one of our operations will be complete."

"We hope," John replied. "The South American operation is going fairly well but the European operation is getting dicey. Derek is stating lack of air cover and being out numbered as his biggest problems. Sky Net Spain and the one in France is gone, but there is at least one other. Besides Derek's searching, the Sea Wolf is in the Med, looking for Sky Net signal locations. If they find one, they are to Tomahawk the hell out of it."

"Let's hope they find it," Catherine agreed. "I've noticed Sky Net is not paying much attention to islands. Now, about Australia?"

John knew they had to strike wherever they could and get as many survivors together as possible. "I have to agree, weapons and strategic support to begin with. We still have 3000 M1's finishing up modifications. Stugs, we need in Europe. I'd say maybe give them a few hundred. Of course all the plasma rifles and 20 MM guns we can. We also have a bunch of 150 MM artillery we're not using down south. I'll start sending supplies west. Do they need anti-aircraft missiles?"

"So far, no. The H/K's seem to be either destroyed or gone. Apparently, the Australian government troops fought back hard. I was thinking also factory plans and building assistance," Catherine said.

"If you can, do it."

"Will do John." Catherine said and cut the connection.

Cameron then walked in with Allison, holding her hand. "John, it's getting late. Family time."

"Yeah, John, Cameron made a new game with me!" Allison said brightly. "Come play it with us."

"It's a good game?" John asked.

Allison bobbed her head. "It is. It's not easy, it makes you think, but it is fun."

John got up and called, "Maria, I'm going to my quarters. If anything critical comes up, come get me."

"Yes, General," Maria replied. Instead of just guarding him and Cameron, He and Cameron convinced Maria she would serve a better purpose being the coordinator for his staff and take messages for him in the command center.

.

The next day, John got good news. On the east coast of South America, General Jacobson had broken the last solid defense of Sky Net in Macapa, Brazil, next to the Amazon river. On the west coast, his troops and locals from the Jungle were all but flying through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Although the natives were not doing much fighting, they were pointing out where Sky Net troops were, and knowing the lay of the land, they were able to guide the Stugs around Sky Net units to come at them from all sides. The Sky Net segment had changed places twice, from mid-Brazil to lower Brazil, and now into Argentina. From what spotter planes reported, Sky Net units were gathering near Buenos Aires where Sky Net there was last detected. From what General Jacobson hinted at, the lack of H/K tanks and H/K's was due to Sky Net not thinking they would meet any serious resistance in South America. The only factory found so far was a small terminator factory up in Venezuela, and that now belonged to him.

With any luck, soon Sky Net would be driven from South America.

Getting word that Derek and his commanders were soon to arrive, John got out the European maps. Although Cameron was having a good time with Allison, he wanted her here for this meeting. First, John got a babysitter, then went to his quarters and found Cameron showing Allison how to do simple math.

Seeing John come in, Allison held up her paper. "John! Look what Cameron showed me. I can carry!"

"All right!" John announced. "Allison, I need to borrow Cameron for a while. When she's busy, would you like a tour of the gardens? There a lot of near things down there."

"That sounds like a good idea," Cameron said. "You like flowers, don't you Allison?"

"I do" Allison agreed heartily.

John motioned to the woman who came in with him. "This is Lt. Baker. She will show you the gardens."

Cameron knew John would not interrupt her time with Allison unless it was important. She encouraged Allison to go. Eager to see pretty flowers Allison was soon on her way with Lt. Baker. Going back to the Command Center, John explained to Cameron why she was needed.

"We have a problem in Europe. Sky Net brought in another huge army and drove Derek back to England. I have an idea how to handle it, but I need every opinion I can get so I can make the best choice on what to do about it."

"I understand," Cameron replied.

They went in and John gave Cameron the overview of Derek's situation, and the reinforcements that were heading his way. He also got the message that a partially built Nuclear sub up in Groton, Connecticut had been finished and was going through sea trials.

Not long after John got that message, Derek and his commanders, Tina and Marisa, arrived.

"General John!" Marisa swooned and ran into him, giving him a firm hug. He returned the hug and also admonished her while Cameron cast her a death glare. Yes, John noticed Cameron's displeasure. "Marisa, we have to be professional," he said firmly.

Smiling broadly, Marisa released him and snapped him a salute. "Yes, sorry General, I couldn't help myself."

John then shook hands with Derek and Tina. "Give me your situation," he told Derek.

Derek, pointed out where his troops were. "We have troops in Portishead, here by Bristol, it's the closest safe port for incoming ships, all the way to Margate, here on the east coast. Pretty much the whole south of England is Sky Net free. I'm not counting on anything yet, the channel is shallow enough terminators can just walk across it. I'm not going to sugar coat it, John. We're still badly outnumbered and we need those supplies. We have a radio listening post in Dover, and we have a direction, but we need another set up so we can triangulate a distance to Sky Net. So far, it's looking like it's in Germany."

"Germany, huh?" John asked in a musing tone. "What about another post up here in Denmark? We send a sub, set it up and listen. If we're talking Germany, that should give us a good triangulation."

"Next question how to deal with it? If it's inland, then that will be a long way to travel," Derek said. "Sky Net will know we're coming and may move before we get there."

"A whole army is out of the question," Cameron said. "So an air raid might be also. Sky Net will see that coming as well."

"Sky Net tends to mass on the threat," Marisa said. "If we fake an attack along the French coast. Put enough forces there to get their attention, we can use that as a diversion for a small force of fast troops."

Derek eyed her and asked, "So who gets set up for slaughter?"

"No one," Marisa said. "The diversion force attacks enough to get Sky Net's attention, then retreats back to England."

"The attack force headed for Sky Net should be as small as possible," Tina said. "They move and hide, take plenty of explosives with them. They will have to sneak in, plant the explosives, then get out before they go off."

"That is possible with very well trained troops," Cameron agreed. "Sending terminators to walk across the bottom of the North sea, and Sky Net will not know they are coming."

"Depending upon where Sky Net is, that may work. Say, a group of 50," John said in thought.

"That is an idea," Derek agreed. "They could even use rivers to get closer before possibly exposing themselves. Use subs to get them close, say drop them off 10 miles out."

"If they don't get Sky Net, they will be in big trouble," John warned.

"It will have to be white T-800's," Tina said, "And they can't attack anything along the way. T-800's won't be suspected unless they fire on other Sky Net units."

"And who's going to lead this force?" John asked.

"I will," Tina stated. "We must destroy that Sky Net segment if we have a hope of dealing with that large army."

"That is true," Derek relented.

John told Tina, "If you're seen, that will blow the operation."

"I'll strip my skin off. Then I'll just be another terminator."

"You's do that?" Derek asked, shocked at her offer.

Tina noted Derek glance at her chest. With a smirk she said, "You can keep it for me for when I return. Just make sure it stays in a nutrient bath."

"Tina, once all your flesh is gone, it will be very difficult to get back," Cameron told her. "Even if your flesh is preserved, it may not reattach."

"If it will help defeat Sky Net, then it has to be done," Tina stated.

"That's very brave of you," Derek told her.

"It is," John said firmly. "Still, don't do that unless you have no other choice." He handed Derek the list of reinforcements and supplies. "Here's what you'll be getting in the next week. I can also get you two carriers of fighter planes for your diversionary attack, and shore bombardment. You're going to need code words you can use over the air to coordinate this operation. Let's get those worked out."

Cameron was pleased they had a way to move forward. She wasn't pleased at how close Marisa insisted on standing next to John on his other side. She wanted to get Marisa back to England as fast as possible.


	30. Chapter 30

CH 30

Being 'Sky Net' North America, John Henry was receiving a wealth of data from the Sky Net communications. He'd convinced Sky Net that South America was being 'purged' of humans, and took responsibility for setting up a new segment there. he had all the Sky Net codes and movements.

For now, Australia was being all but ignored by Sky Net Asia, it was the North American Segment's task to resolve that situation. Europe, however was Sky Net Asia's the number one concern. More units were headed for Europe. In recycling destroyed units from the battlefields, Sky Net learned that there was a new terminator that was not it's own. The TX was being given the designation Terminator X. Machines were being studied on how the biological skin was bonded onto these units. None recovered so far had a chip in them. The liquid metal parts were also being analyzed and reverse engineering was being done in the Hamburg labs. These terminators were visually indistinct from humans and superior to Sky Net's own units. Once Sky Net copied them, it had a way to infiltrate the humans, find and kill John Connor once and for all. Once Connor was terminated, the human resistance would fall apart.

Noting the locations of the Sky Net segments and it's plans, John Henry shared all this information with Catherine Weaver and John Connor.

.

The one day meeting with Derek and his group turned into two as John received the information John Henry had. John saw right away that as long as they were in Europe, Australia was open for recovery. Having the location of every Sky Net segment, it was also time to strike.

John showed Derek and his group where the Sky Net segments were. Facing them, John pointed each out on his maps. "Derek, the one you're seeing in Dover, is the Warsaw segment, in Poland. To the south in Istanbul, there is another, out here in the Ukraine at Kursk, is another. Those are the ones closest to you. The Istanbul segment will be attacked with Tomahawks. If you can get the Warsaw segment, that will disorganize the west European Sky Net units so you can clean those up."

"Sounds nice," Derek said in a even tone. "Do you have any idea how many of them there are?"

Quoting John Henry, John said, "One million, four hundred thousand T-800's, 193,000 H/K tanks, 16,423 flying H/K's, 59 experimental artillery units, 1,363,000 utility transports. The closest factory, the one where Sky Net has some of our TX's to study them is in Hamburg, Germany, there's another factory in Bermen, Germany, another in Dresden, and an H/K factory ten miles north of the Prauge. The one in Hamburg is a priority target. We can't let Sky Net copy our TX's."

"No, we can't," Marisa said, and sniffled. "Just the thought of Sky Net tearing them apart to examine them..."

"Not a nice thought," John agreed. "Tina, you will need to take a submarine through the Denmark straights to get to the segment in Warsaw. The Onyx will arrive in Margate to get you to the gulf of Danzig to the mouth of the Vistula river in Poland. There, you can go inland under water and undetected all the way to Warsaw. The river runs right through the city. It will take longer, but much less chance of discovery. That also means you won't have to strip your skin off."

Tina nodded, looking relieved. "I do want to save my skin if possible," she said.

"I also have the current Sky Net codes," John told her and handed her the copy John Henry gave him. Seeing Derek eye them, John told him, "John Henry has been providing great intelligence."

Derek nodded. "So, we know what Sky Net is up to. We just have to go destroy all of these segments."

"That would be ideal," John agreed. "The fact is, we can't get to all of them, so we get the ones we can, as soon as we can. The moment the Warsaw Sky Net is down, attack Hamburg, as close as you can get to it. The Elbe river leads up to it. Subs, ships, whatever you can get there fast, and get rid of that factory and make sure none of those TX bodies can be used for research."

Marisa looked at Derek and said, "If I may, I would like to lead that attack, General."

"We will have three carriers to assist you, as well as missile cruisers with Tomahawks carrying thermite warheads." John told Derek. "Melt that place into the ground."

"Yes, General."

John gave a nod and asked, "Is there any questions?" No one had any, so he added, "Good, we'll fly you back today so you can get started. Good luck people."

Before Derek could stop her, or Cameron intercept her, Marisa scooted over to hug John again. "Thank you general!" she said happy.

"You need to be on your way," Cameron said flatly as she stared at Marisa.

Although Cameron was steaming about Marisa's behavior, she cancelled the HUD display that marked Marisa for termination. She was leaving, and would no longer be a bother to John. Besides, with Allison here, Cameron didn't want to make a bad impression on Alison. After they left, Cameron made sure she got some good hugs and kisses. After all, it was her John.

.

Catherine Weaver sent a fleet to Australia. the USS Midway, CV-41, packed with ground attack planes and H/K's, five cruisers, six destroyers and a pair of LST landing craft her factories built to carry the Stugs, with two submarines for under water defense. The Hornet was still being reconstructed, it would make the next trip. General Perry's second, Lt. General Majors, was in command. His job was to remove all Sky Net units and recycle as many terminators as possible. With the fleet, Catherine also sent a facility to re-educated the terminators they subdued, and plans for factories to build new ones.

Catherine's scout force had landed on the Sunshine Coast, 50 miles north of Brisbane. Of course, Brisbane itself had been hit with a Nuclear bomb. Spreading out, the scouts found survivors and all were hot for payback. They were ready to give whoever attacked them 'a good spanking'. In organizing the survivors, the scouts for them joining the terminator hunts. In a hundred mile circle, the combined force had cleared he area of any active Sky Net terminators. A few bushmen who happened to reach the coast had .50 cal rifles that were crack shots, and took down Sky Net terminators with a shot right on their chip port, or through the right eye. Another sub arrived to tell them the fleet was coming with more reinforcements.

At Darwin in the Northern Territories, two ships controlled by Sky Net landed. Terminators filed off the ships to find out what happened to Sky Net Australia.

.

Daniel and Claire returned to collect Allison. Cameron, John and Allison met them upon arrival at the security gates of the Cheyenne Complex.

"Welcome back, Mommy and Daddy!" Announced happily and ran into her mother with a hug. Pulling back, Allison beamed, "Cameron made a new game with me, I got to see the gardens, they are BIG! I even got to see the train station waaaay underground, and there's even a long hallway with lots of stores called a shopping mall here!"

"Wow," Claire beamed back. "I take it you had fun?"

"I did!"

"How was the vacation?" John asked.

"Great, we didn't want to come home," Daniel said with a grin.

"Everyone was kind and helpful," Claire added. "It was very relaxing." Holding up a soft covered book, she said, "We even got a book on the Maya language."

"Their language is more expressive and colorful that we imagined," Daniel agreed. "It's also complex."

"It is, worse than English," Claire agreed. "They are changing their national language over from Spanish. After seeing their history, I think is the right thing to do."

With a grin, Daniel said, "And if you want to learn they are more than willing to help you along."

"I'm glad you had a good time," Cameron said and hugged Daniel and Claire. "Allison had been a joy to have around."

"Ally's a pretty good girl," Daniel said proudly. "I'm glad you enjoyed each other's company."

"We had fun," Cameron said with an open smile.

"We did!" Allison readily agreed.

"Are you gong to stay for a day or two?" John asked.

Daniel winced. "We'd love to, really, but in the morning we have to get back."

With a sigh, Claire nodded and said, "Yes, our work awaits, unfortunately."

"We are all having dinner tonight, correct?" Cameron asked.

"We are," Claire agreed.

"And I'll help, and help make breakfast in the morning, too," Allison proclaimed.

Cameron asked her, "Will you help me go get the ice cream too?"

"You have Ice cream?" Claire asked, surprised to hear it.

Cameron cast her a wink and said, "Made it myself. Pistachio."

.

Claire and Allison helped Cameron make dinner, which was to say they had a female party in the kitchen while Daniel and John talked in the sitting room.

"By what I'm hearing, we are doing well against Sky Net?" Daniel asked.

"In some places," John replied. "We have advantages, but Sky Net has also had a boost from the beginning. It's not so one-sided as it was in the previous future. Unless we are very careful, we won't keep those advantages. After the bombs were dropped, Sky Net was expecting to finish us off, not have to seriously fight us. Sky Net is an AI that learns fast. If we can keep destroying it's parts and factories, we have a decent chance of winning so long as we keep the few advantages we have."

Daniel nodded and said, "I noticed that in the we're waiting longer for the military to collect supplies. I've gotten to know the supply and transport system well. It's not the system that's slowed down, it's the lack of personnel to move goods that is the problem. For instance, we have about nine tons of frozen fish to transport, but it's waiting for pickup. I'd like to join the Supply corps. I want to help get things moved. I'm just afraid I'll end up on the line someplace. That, I don't want. I have a wife and a child."

"Understood," John replied. "Well, everyone goes through basic training so you know how to fight, but you're right, we do need supply and support people. Daniel, you grow fish in the caverns, correct?"

"I do. I was one of the first to set up fish farms," Daniel told him.

John thought for a moment, then said, "Australia. We've yet to supply any clean food there. I can task you with setting up fish farms and gardens there. The temperature's better and the radiation is a little less, except for around the cities. How would that be?"

Daniel grinned and said, "Great!"

"I'll send Catherine a message that you're coming to get food production started there. So far, we're finding more survivors than wandering T-800's, so I'll have her give you a small staff. You can get more recruits from the locals," John explained. He then asked, "Will Claire be OK with this?"

"Yes, she loved Cancun," Daniel said. "Do you know where in Australia?"

John shook his head. "That's up to Catherine. Right now, our forces are on the East Coast, I'm sure we will be expanding out. You'll have to go where you are needed."

"I can live with that," Daniel agreed.

"Then when you're ready, go see my mother Sarah on where to join, I'll let her and Catherine know you're coming," John said brightly. "If you can get a couple of your fellow fish farmers to come with you, that will be a big help."

"DINNER!" Allison yelled.

.

At Margate, England, Tina was the only TX in the group of 50 terminators that watched the ONYX come to the surface and pull up to the end of the dock. All of them wore sealed backpacks filled with explosives, det cord and timers. Tia made sure they had their eye-flash communications down. The would be spending their trip underwater. Instead of getting down into the sub, Tina and her group got on top and held onto the railings. At the back of the sail, Tina plugged the USB wire hanging out, into the back of her head.

"Captain, we are on board and ready to depart."

"Very good. At the back of the sail, there is an optical scanner. You can use morse code into that scanner to communicate if the USB connection fails. We will get you as close to the river mouth as possible and let you off. I would ask you and your troops to lay down to help a bit with streamlining. We can go a bit faster."

"Yes, Captain, will do."

The sub pulled out away from the dock. Heading back out to sea, it dove with Tina and her terminators laying on deck, heading for the gulf of Danzig.

In the harbor near Bristol, The fleet was arriving. H/K's took to the air to begin scanning the channel. A flight of ground attack planes took off for an airport in the east. Derek was relieved, he now had air cover.

.

"AUSTRALIA!" Cameron and Claire cried at the same time as they gaped at Daniel.

"Yes, " Daniel said brightly. "We can help those people and do it in a warmer climate."

"But, why Australia?" Claire asked. "Daniel, we have jobs, Allison is going to school now. This is a big move!"

"John, Australia is not secure," Cameron stated.

"No Sky Net segment has been found in Australia," John replied. To back Daniel up, he said, "Only random terminators. The people there need assistance, and right now, we don't have anyone else that can make the fish farms and gardens they need for radiation free food."

Trying to make light of the move, Daniel shrugged and said, "It's the land down under. You know, where women glow and men plunder?"

With a scowl, Claire said, "That's not funny. Daniel, we have a life in the caverns. Mid-Cavern is our home. WHY do you want to move to friggin Australia?"

John winced, knowing this wasn't going to be good. "Daniel has decided to enlist and, he has been assigned to lead the Australian support division."

The glares turned to John.

"WHY John?" Cameron asked.

"Daniel is an expert in fish farming," John stated. "He also knows well how to make the gardens they are going to need."

"Why send Daniel?" Cameron asked.

"Because he wants to help, and we need his help," John replied firmly. He knew why Cameron was upset, he also knew he needed willing volunteers whenever possible.

Claire eyed Daniel and stated, "Well if you want to volunteer, that's up to you. That doesn't mean Allison and I are going!"

Daniel cast her a hurt look. "Claire? I thought you'd like to live in a better climate?Wasn't Cancun nice?"

"The weather was nice," Claire agreed. "I also noticed the gun batteries on the shore and the patrol planes flying by. Women who were hugging their men goodbye as the men left in uniforms, carrying rifles! Yes, nice weather IN. A. War. Zone! I do not want to live like that, and I sure as HELL do not want Allison to live like that! Yes, the caverns are not the best scenery but they are SAFE!"

Becoming upset with his wife, Daniel said, "I have to do my part."

In a small voice, Allison said, "Daddy, please don't go."

Daniel looked at Allison's stricken face, he nearly crumbled. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Ally, hon, I have to go. This is something that needs to be done. If we don't do what we need to, then our caverns won't be safe any more."

Cameron's left hand twitched. In a heavy tone, she said, "Allison, Dad is right. I do not enjoy this war, no one does. If we don't do what we feel is right, then all is lost. I don't like it one bit, but some things have to be."

Allison cast Cameron a pleading look. "But ... can't you go and scare those things away? You're the Tin Miss, right?"

Cameron's hand twitched harder. "Allison, my primary job is to protect and assist John. John is Sky Net's number one target. He is our lead General. I must ensure Sky Net does not get to him."

Seeing Cameron's hand twitching open and shut, John said, "Allison, Cameron has suffered being beaten, shot, having her skin torn off, all to make sure I stay safe. I need her here. There are others like her in Australia to make sure your Dad stays safe. He is not going to be fighting Sky Net, but providing food for those who do."

"But, Daddy will still be far away," Allison complained.

"Yes, it cannot be helped," Cameron told her.

Allison teared up and began to cry. Claire put an arm around her and said, "Come dear," and led her away from the table. She cast a sad face back at Daniel and led her daughter out.

Daniel planted his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. "Shit!" he spat.

"Perhaps that would have gone better if you would have discussed it first," Cameron said stiffly. She got up. "John, I need to go talk to them."

John only nodded. He noticed her left hand was still going. Cameron wasn't happy. At least he didn't get the red eyes, yet.

.

Cameron stopped in the kitchen to get Allison a small bowl of Pistachio ice cream. She then went to The Young's quarters and went in. Hearing Allison sob, Cameron found them coming out of the bathroom. "We need to talk," she said. She held the bowl in her right hand so she wouldn't crush it in her twitching left hand.

"Did John talk Daniel into this?" Claire asked heavily. She sat down on the couch, holding Allison.

"No. John would not do that," Cameron stated. She set the bowl on the table and asked, "Allison? I made this myself, could you tell me if it's any good?"

Allison nodded and got up to pick the bowl up and take it to the dinning room. She didn't sit at the table, but stood just inside the doorway to listen.

"Ice cream won't fix this," Claire stated.

Cameron was unhappy with the whole situation. Even though she didn't like Daniel heading off to Australia, she accepted it. Claire should also, but wasn't. She didn't mean to, but her eyes turned red.

Claire shrunk back. "What is that?" she asked.

"Sorry, I am not happy right now," Cameron told her flatly. "I'm not happy with Dad, John, or you. Allison doesn't understand, I can deal with that. I thought you would know better."

"What, because I don't want my husband to go away on us?" Claire asked.

"Do you remember Cindy? What you and John told me when she decided to go off and join the resistance?" Cameron asked.

"That's different," Claire said.

"No, no difference," Cameron replied. "You told me Cindy did what she had to do. John told me the same thing. This is something Dad has to do. I don't like it one bit, but the choice is his. Not yours, not mine, not John's. He feels he needs to contribute to helping those who right now, have no help. I will do what I can to ensure his safety, but if this is what Dad feels he must do, then we need to let him do it."

"He has responsibilities!" Claire hissed back.

"Yes, he does," Cameron agreed. "You are right that Allison cannot be in danger. You are also wrong about Dad's responsibilities being only to his family. We are all responsible to each other, no matter who or what we are. That is how we are succeeding. If we loose that, we unravel and Sky Net wins. Daniel will have support of those with him will help watch out for him. Since he will be making the basic nutrition everyone needs, I am sure he will be well guarded."

Tears welled in Claire's eyes. "I don't want to loose my husband," she said weakly.

"I don't either," Cameron said softer. The red glow in her eyes faded. "That fact is, we are at war. I did not want Cindy to die, but she did. Cindy gave her life to help defeat Sky Net. Many have. More will. I can only do my best to see Dad doesn't." Cameron forced her hand to stop twitching. It worked for 2.7 seconds. "Mother, I want Sky Net gone. If it were possible, I'd go do it myself. The fact is, Sky Net is world wide, and I alone can't destroy it. It's going to take everyone."

Claire nodded slowly. She eyed Cameron and said, "You have been at the front of this war from the very beginning, haven't you?"

"Not the very beginning, but I was in the previous future. I know much about Sky Net, what it can do, and what we need to defeat it. That is one of the reasons John keeps me close," Cameron explained.

Claire let out a snort and said, "You've been at the broken end of a bottle most of your life. First with your original time line, and now this one."

"That is a fairly accurate assessment, yes," Cameron agreed.

"We haven't. I'm scared, Cameron. I don't want Daniel to die, or to have Allison grow up with no father," Claire said with a sniffle.

"I understand. The good news is that in the previous future, Allison's parents died on J-day when the bombs fell. She had no one but the Reese brothers and John. Then ... I happened and she ceased to exist. This time, that did not happen."

.

Allison perked up. She ceased to exist? she died? What did Cameron mean 'then she happened'? Allison peeked out of the doorway. her mother and Cameron were talking on the couch, facing away from her. This ice cream was really good, but now, she was focused on what was being talked about.

.

"I am very happy Allison was spared what you went through," Claire said firmly. "That is due to your efforts. Even though you claim you're not in there, your actions prove you are!"

"Yes, Mom," Cameron said simply. She wasn't going to argue with the woman.

Claire let out a huff and said, "I suppose I have to accept Daniel going away. Not that I like it."

"I don't either," Cameron agreed.

"Let's get back to the boys," Claire said and got up.

.

Allison quickly finished up her ice cream, giving herself a small headache. She ran out to hold the empty bowl up to Cameron. "I finished it, that was really good! What does living at the broken end of a bottle mean?"

Cameron noted where she'd come from. By the doorway. Allison had been listening. "It means living with the threat of, or in danger."

"All the time?" Allison asked.

"Much of the time. You don't have to worry about that," Cameron assured her.

Cameron had the bowl, but Allison still held on as she looked up at Cameron. She asked, "What did you mean I died when you happened?"

Quickly, Cameron said, "That will not happen now."

"Allison! You should not listen in on other people. That's called eves dropping and it's rude!" Claire said firmly.

"Sorry, mom," Allison said, not taking her eyes off Cameron. She then asked, "So, what happened?"

Cameron looked at Allison for a moment, then said , "Once you are old enough to understand, I will explain."

"Hon, you don't need to now," Claire said gently.

"But ... if it's something that happened to me, don't I get to know about it?" Allison asked, still looking at Cameron.

Cameron looked away towards the door. In a flat tone, she said, "We need to return." Thankfully, Allison was holding her right hand with the bowl, not the left that began twitching more.

"Cameron, why is your hand doing that?" Allison asked, noting the quick movements.

"It is a malfunction that presents itself when I am frustrated or angry. It is an emotional response I cannot control," Cameron said in her flat tone.

Claire went to touch her left hand. Cameron jerked away. "It is dangerous to do that."

"Dangerous?" Claire asked.

"Yes, John tried to hold that hand when I was angry at Cindy. I inadvertently crushed his hand."

"oh."

.

For the big blow up at the table earlier, things calmed down. Doing what she could to stop everyone being mad at each other, Allison bragged at how good the ice cream was, and helped Cameron get more for everyone.

Allison watched Cameron the rest of the night. Specifically, her left hand. The twitching did die down when peace was made between their mother and father, and finally stopped when they had to go to bed. The next day, they went and got their pictures taken, all together. Cameron got one, so did Daniel and Claire. Cameron drove them to the airport where they had a teary goodbye.

On the way home, Allison's mind was churning. What she heard her mother and Cameron talking about stayed fresh in her mind.

Returning to school the next day, Allison had a question in science class. Before the class began, she went up to the teacher and asked, "Was there a previous future?"

The woman smiled at her and said, "People did come back from our future to change it for the better."

"So, the Tin Miss came back from the future?" Allison asked.

"I believe she did. Her proper name is Cameron Connor."

"I know. So Cameron fought Sky Net before, in this original future?" Allison asked.

The teacher leaned towards her. "These are some very thoughtful questions you're asking, Miss Young. Is there a reason why you are so interested in time travel?"

Shifting foot to foot, Allison meekly said, "I heard Cameron say that when she happened ... someone else died. Do you know what she meant?"

"No, I do not. You know Cameron Connor?"

"She's my sister," Allison stated.

"Your sister?" the teacher asked, surprised. "Allison, Cameron is one of those terminators. She's not human."

Allison frowned and asked, "So ... what did Mom mean when she told Cameron, you're still in there?"

The teacher cupped a hand to her mouth. "What else did your mother say?" she asked.

"That Cameron had been at the front of this war, even in the first time ... and Cameron has lived at the broken end of a bottle for most of her life ..." Allison felt weird telling her this, but she needed to find out, "And Cameron said ... someone died when she happened, but that won't happen now."

The teacher nodded slowly, then said, "Miss Young, I'd like to speak with your mother." She quickly wrote out a note and said, "Give this to her. Take your seat please."

"Yes, ma'am," Allison said. She put the note in her bag and went to sit down. Allison did listen in class, but her mind was working on the conversation she heard between Cameron and her mother.

At the last class of the day, Allison spent her practice time writing out what she knew, like a scientist was suppose to do.

Cameron had fought Sky Net before, and was fighting it again. Cameron was a terminator.

The first time, Allison had lost her parents to the nuclear bombs, John and the Reese brothers had taken care of her.

When Cameron 'happened', Allison died.

Her mother insisted Cameron was her daughter.

The time lines were split just before Sky Net attacked.

Allison made a line and forked it to show when the time lines split. She drew a stick figure of herself before the split. Cameron was older, she drew a stick figure of Cameron on the 1 line, and herself on the 2 line. She added a stick figure Cameron on the 2 line. Cameron had said she died when Cameron happened. She drew a vertical line on Stick figure line 1 Cameron's side, the drew a line from herself to the 1 line by Cameron. She then drew a semicircular line from Cameron's stick figure, down and back to the split.

Allison frowned at it, if Cameron was here the first time, then came back, then there should be two Camerons now. There wasn't.

When Cameron happened, Allison died.

Mom had told Cameron 'you're still in there'. Cameron was a terminator. Why did Mom say that? Looking at the drawing, Allison saw on the 2 line, there was her and Cameron. On the one line there was her, then Cameron.

"What is this?" the teacher asked, looking over Allison's shoulder.

Allison explained that the picture was. The teacher gaped at it briefly and said, "May I keep this? this was some good scientific work you did."

"Thank you!" Allison beamed.

"Class is over for the day, everyone make sure you collect your things," the teacher announced.

After the class filed out, she studied the picture. The implications of what Allison drew out were staggering. The teacher then went to find Mrs. Young.

.

Talking with the teacher, Claire knew Allison was digging for the truth by herself. She had to tell her daughter what she knew. Now in possession of Allison's drawing, Claire took Allison home. Daniel was doing his enlistment thing, she he wouldn't be home until dinner.

"Honey, sit here with me," Claire said and took out her drawing.

Allison sat by her mother. Seeing the drawing, she winced.

"It' all right, dear," Claire said gently. "You did well on figuring it out for yourself."

"I did?" Allison asked.

"Yes." Pointing to where the stick figure with e 'C' over on the first time line was, Claire said "You have it right. Here is where Cameron came to be. She came back and made things different for us."

Allison nodded. "Yes, but what happened to me?"

Claire took a breath and said, "The first time, things for all of us were much tougher. You, Allison, made a very hard decision. To be more effective, you had yourself made into a terminator so you were able to fight Sky Net better. When you did that, you were no longer human. You felt you were no longer Allison, so you took the name Cameron."

Allison stared at her mother. "I did?"

"You did. Cameron is you, from the first time line. The one thing Cameron was insistent on, was that you in this second time line, never have to go through what she went through. Cameron's body is now flesh covered metal. Her exterior, and part of her brain is all that's left of her original body. It has taken Cameron a long time to learn how to be more or less human again. She came back to help John and make sure you stay safe."

"Cameron is ... me?" Allison asked weakly. "That's what she meant by I died when she happened?"

Gently, Claire said, "Yes, dear. If the same circumstances had occurred, you would ... you did loose your humanity for the sake of others. That was the bravest thing I have ever heard of. And thanks to Cameron ... you, your future will be much better now."

Allison stared off at nothing. "But ... why did I change my name?"

"You were convinced at the time that you were now a machine, and the human named Allison was dead. That is what I got from Cameron. Only Cameron herself can tell you the details. Personally, I think she'd rather forget them."

"Wow," Allison said softly. "So, there is two of me."

"Essentially, yes."

Allison blinked and weakly said, "It feels like my head is spinning." She then looked at her mother. "So that's why you told Cameron 'you're still in there."

"That's right. To remind her she's not just a machine. Somewhere inside that metal body, my little girl exists. I tell her that to let her know she has, and will always have her family," Claire said firmly.

"Is there anyone else there are two of?" Allison asked.

"I don't know."

Allison frowned and said, "If I ever have to become a machine ... I'm going to keep my name so everyone knows who I am!"

Claire ginned at her. "You do that," she said and hugged Allison.

.

"Captain to Tina, comms check."

Submerged and lying on the deck of Onyx as water flowed past, Tina heard the check and responded. "Tina here. Comms check SAT, Captain."

"We're approaching the drop off point. Once we're in the delta, I'll set the ship on the bottom. Just follow the water flow upstream, and you'll be in the river."

"Understood, Captain," Tina replied. The water was looking a little darker. Tina could see the surface above, but around them was a greenish water. She was able to make out every terminator on the deck. She flashed her eyes in the code to get them all standing up. The terminator with the extra pack too the smaller pack off and pulled out the rope. He put the rope around the bottom of a rail stantion and let the rope float out behind him, then moved the rope through the stantion until both ends were trailing along behind them at an equal length.

"Captain, we are ready to depart," Tina told the captain.

The sub slowed. Tina saw the bottom coming up. The sub stayed at depth and slowly skidded to a stop.

"Tina, we're as close as we can get. Godspeed to you. Rap the hull twice when you are all off."

"Understood, Captain." Tina said, and eye flashed for them to depart. She isolated her USB port and pulled the cord out of the back of her head.

The first terminator grabbed the rope and swung down to lower himself to the bottom. He held the rope down as the next one, then the next climbed down the rope. Tina stayed by the rope as her terminators collected below. One they were all off, Tina climbed down and pulled one end of the rope to hand it to the terminator with the spare bag. He coiled the rope off and put it away. Tina walked to the bow and gave two raps on the hull with her knuckles. She led her terminators into the flow of the river as the Onyx backed away. Mud was kicked up from them walking and the Onyx backing away. Thankfully, the water flow kept the dark muddy water behind them.

Tina knew the distance they had to travel, and the turns in the river she could expect. They were on their own now, and John Connor was counting on her.

.

A high air recon of the Hamburg area showed a good portion of the river to Hamburg was frozen over hard with a snow covering. Studying the videos and the still pictures, Derek and Marisa identified the factory complex and another side building that had the roads cleared for traffic.

"We're only going to get the fleet to the back of the bay," Laura said. "Sky Net units will have plenty of time to react to a land attack."

"Yeah," Derek agreed. "The first assault will have to be by air, and the heavier ship guns. The subs will have to beach here, on the western side of the bay."

"We have two LST's, can they beach on the ice?" Marisa asked.

"Too risky. They will have to beach with the subs," Derek said. "The initial attack has to be by air. Get them looking up, it will give the ground forces a better chance at getting a solid hold on a beachhead."

"Our planes and ships will be very busy at the beginning of the battle," Marisa noted.

"Yup, they will. I want the Hamburg factory and this building hit hard at the same time as the beach, and this H/K landing area," Derek told her. "The instant Sky Net goes silent, we go in for the attack. By Tina's calculations, it will take her 10 days to get to Warsaw, figure another two to find Sky Net and attack it, so be ready to go 12 days from now. The Onyx should have dropped them off today."

"Will do, General," Marisa stated.

Derek turned to the speedboat squadron commander. "Grenfield, the day before the attack, get your boats down to the french west coast. Make lots of radio traffic. Make those Sky Net units think every human on the planet is there. Make up unit names, issue orders, make up attack plans, talk about baking a cake or the asses of girls on the beach, just make enough noise so you get their attention. Then, get the hell out of there."

"Very good, sir, we will shout loud enough for them to hear us in Russia," Commander Grenfield said, and snapped a British salute.

"All right, we now what to do, so let's get ready to do it," Derek stated.

.

For the next ten days, Derek checked on any further information on Sky Net. All he was finding was Sky Net troops were hunting for them in France, and still looking for them in Spain. Marisa reported the fleet was ready. Laura new he was nervous and did her best to calm him down. Anne was a good influence on Derek for that. On the morning of the eleventh day, he had Grenfield depart in his 20 speedboats to go along the French west coast and call out with false radio signals to get Sky Net units chasing him to that coast. He just hoped Tina was on time.

.

Ice covered the river over Tina's head. That helped in their stealth, but there was all kinds of debris on the bottom. Sunken boats, WW2 scrap including tanks, and various other things made going a little tougher than she had imagined. Coming to bridge supports on day 6, Tina decided to break through the ice and had a terminator take a peek above to see what was there. She was feeling anxious that they were falling behind. Much further, and the river bent away from her goal. She was hoping for a shortcut to Warsaw.

The terminator returned to stick his head underwater and report : The road was plowed and went south. No signs of Sky Net units.

South was good, they could pick up the river again and get back in to continue on. Tina ordered an exit up onto the road. Two terminators in the lead, Tina and her group ran down the road, keeping a watch out for any Sky Net units. Tina's flesh was freezing, but she could not worry about that now. She didn't dare heat herself up and possibly alert a Sky Net Unit she was here with an infrared signature.

A 30 mile run down the road and they met the river again. Breaking back into the river under a bridge, they returned to the river bottom and continued on. Figuring the distance they had made quickly, Tina calculated they were now a half a day ahead. Keeping up a good pace under water, by day 10, they had made the marker bridge that spanned the middle of Warsaw. Just beyond was the boat launch she marked for coming up out of the river. Breaking up through the ice was tougher here, due to the thickness. A terminator did it, punching a hole up through the ten inches of ice. He climbed out and reported it was safe to exit.

Up and out of the water, Tina's group looked for a staging area. A wrecked boat house was found. Tina and most of the group went inside. Two terminators that had signal direction finders went out looking for Sky Net's position. By nightfall, they returned. Sky Net was in the southern part of the city, inside a factory building that the structure had survived the bombing. The antenna was was inside the center of the roofless building, the power supply was in a concrete bunker. Tina had the timers set to go off at 5AM. Leaving the boat house, she stayed in the middle of the pack of terminators.

The terminator guards around the buildings didn't stop them as they trooped on by. four of her group went to destroy the power supply and the power cables. Tina and six others got inside the main building and headed up to find the antennae ducting to plant charges there and on the antenna wire itself. Others hunted for the server rooms to set their charges as close to Sky Net as possible.

Going up the stairs, Tina followed her lead terminator. They found the antenna base and put two charges in place and activated the timers. It was while setting the charge in place that Tina realized her flesh had suffered massive damage from the cold. In removing her backpack, she felt her shoulder flesh slide. She opened her coat to find her flesh had turned black. By her shoulder, it was cracked and a yellow pudding like substance leaked out.

She should have left her flesh back at base. It was all ruined now. Damn.

At 4:45, Tina walked out, collecting her terminators. With eye flashes, she confirmed everything was set to bring the building down, all charges set to go off at once.

Walking out of the building the way they came in, Tina again stayed in the middle of her group to obscure her presence. Coming up the road towards them, another column of terminators were marching. Tina coaxed hers to take the side street. In their move to the side, she was exposed briefly. She saw the other terminators raise their guns. Tina did the only thing she could think of. "Fire on that column!" she announced and brought out her plasma guns. Her terminators aimed at the column. The column fired first.

In front of her, plasma shots melted terminators. Tina fire both of hers and ducked between the buildings. Others moved towards cover as they shot. Tina felt a hot plasma bolt skid across her back. Many of her terminators fell, sparking where limbs and body was melted away.. She peeked out to fire another two bolts out and ducked back as those terminators fell. A rain of plasma fire destroyed the corner of the building making her jump back.

"Cover the other end of the block, find a clear way out!" Tina commanded. She waited by the corner, crouched. A terminator came into view, she hit that one, then another that appeared. Marching feet from the other direction told her terminators from the Sky Net building were coming. This was not good!

"Left side on the other end is clear," one of her terminators announced as he stepped out to shoot, and got hit by three plasma bolts, all but obliterating him. Tina gauged the angle, shot two more bolts, then fled to the other end of the block. "Retreat, follow me!" she called.

In the heavy rain of plasma fire back and forth, only eleven terminators were able to comply. Tina crashed into the door of the closest building. Her terminators followed her in. She ran through the building back to the street she started from. Just before she reached the door an explosion shook the building hard. a beam fell with some ceiling. Dust filled the air in the room, and went rolling by outside. Tina went out to see the Sky Net building had collapsed. Sky net was gone. She got her terminators across the street and into the remains of another building in the dust cloud. Watching the street, she looked for any silver terminators following her. None did.

"Status, are there any Sky Net signals?" she asked.

"Unknown. the signal finders were destroyed in the fight," the terminator to her side replied.

This was not good at all. Tina counted only nine of her terminators left.

The dust was clearing. The building Sky Net had been in was leveled, most of the power building was gone, the remains were burning. With no tower, even if Sky Net here was not destroyed, it was not calling for help any time soon. The remaining silver terminators were hurrying towards the destruction. "Let's go," she said and went out a hole in the ruins away from those terminators.

It that occurred to Tina that although their route here was carefully planned out. There was no plan for their recovery. She and her small band that were left deep into Europe with no way out. They had to work on making exit plans. She led the remains of her force towards the coast, maybe they could find a boat.

.


	31. Chapter 31

CH 31

Tina soon realized she was the liability. Other terminators didn't give a second glance at the white T-800's. They did to her. She was sporting some bare metal on her face and back. When other terminators got close to verify she was one also, they went on their way. While part of her job was to save these slaves from Sky Net, she knew she wouldn't be saving anyone if her and her small band were destroyed due to a confrontation.

Tina's nanites had no nutrients and she could feel her flesh degrading. Hr exterior was all dead skin, and it was creeping inward. As much as she knew that now, it was a hindrance to have flesh, she did not want o loose her core. Once her core flesh was gone, that was it. She would never have flesh again. Walking into a ruined town, she headed for the only partially standing building. A sign in Russian read : Bomb shelter. Maybe down here, she could find heat and nutrients to keep her core from rotting away. She eye flashed a request for her terminators to search for burnables and any form of nutrients they could find, and bring them down here.

The door to the cellar where the shelter was, was shut. It looked rusted in place, so Tina gave it a kick. The door fell inward with a bang. Instead of walking over it, she lifted it to set it against a wall. Going down the stairs, she noted it was no warmer down here, but there also was no wind. She did hear a soft howling from the wind. Walking into a room that was lit from a hole in the ceiling, she stepped through the debris to find there were burnables. Chairs, pieces of table laying about.

Tina cleared a place on the floor to start a fire. A voice in Polish asked, "Who are you?"

She turned to see a white hooded figure emerge from a closet door, holding a gun. He saw her partially metal face and cried, "METAL!" and shot.

Angered by the humans' actions, Tina morphed both her plasma canons and shot back, hitting the sides of the doorway. He ducked and stared at her.

"I didn't have to miss," she stated as she pointed a plasma canon at the wide eyed man. "I could easily have killed you. Don't make me kill you."

"That is what you metal do!" he stated. "You kill everyone!"

"You have me confused with someone else!" Tina snapped back. "Stop shooting me and go back to your hiding place, or I will make your life very painful!"

"You devil!" The man spat, "You will bring others down on us..."

"YOU ARE A MORON!" Tina yelled at hm. Stepping towards him her eyes glowing red, she growled, "You think we came all the way here, to mess with you? You think I lost most of my troops to destroy the Sky Net segment in the area, loose most of my skin, and have NO friggin way out of this land, just to come here and screw up your day? Get the FUCK back in your hole and leave me alone! I need to warm up and think of a way out of this ... barren land." Pointing her plasma canon at him she growled, "Shoot me again and I will make you VERY sorry. Now, go away!" She ended her rant by pushing him back through the door and shutting it for him. The door no longer fit in the half blown away frame, but she managed to jam it upright in the opening.

Tina knew it was selfish, but she was not in the mood to put up with some half-wit terminator-hating human. She got a pile of wood under the hole in the ceiling above, and lit it with a weak plasma shot. Even through her ruined skin, she felt the warmth as the fire grew. Looking around, she didn't see anything with any nutrient content. She did find a metal grating.

A pair of terminators came down with the frozen carcass of a goat. Another came down with some broken 4X4's. Getting some bricks from the crumbled outside of the building, Tina build a fire pit and put the grating on top. Tina put the goat on the grating. She tended the fire to keep it burning, but not too large to burn up the goat. Tina flipped the goat now and then to get it thawed out.

A cold draft came down the stairway, keeping the room from heating up. Propping the steel door back in place, one terminator stayed outside to keep watch. Tina also found material to make the hole in the ceiling smaller. The room rose above freezing, and the goat's hair was smouldering. It took a while, but with the fire, and Tina pulling off burn hair, the goat began to cook, and send a pleasant smelling aroma into the air. As the goat cooked, Tina ripped off chunks of skin and muscle to get some nutrients.

At the closet door, she noted a few faces peeking out at her from the blast holes. Finally having a hope of saving her flesh, or what was left of it, she turned to them and asked, "Hungry?"

The door moved, then fell into the room. The boy who tried to open it, stared at her.

A leg was turning nice and brown and dripping juices. She flipped the goat again and tore the leg off. The inside wasn't done enough yet for human consumption. She laid it on the grating. Tina explained, "It's not quite done yet, and I have nothing to decontaminate it with, but hopefully, the inside isn't contaminated. You can have some, if you want."

Four kids piled out of the closet space she now saw was a tunnel. They watched her rip the other legs off and cook the goat pieces. She ripped off the head and tossed it in the corner. Pointing to chair remains, she asked, "Could you bring those sticks of wood over here, please?"

A boy went over and brought back the legs. Tina took them and placed them in the fire to keep it going.

"What are you?" a ragged dark haired girl asked.

"You look like a zombie from those movies," an older boy said. Scanning the terminators standing around, he added, "And why are you with those things?"

"I'm a TX. Those are T-800's, "Tina explained. "I'm a newer version of them. We are not with the Sky Net who goes around killing people. We came to kill it. I suffered damage, and I need to eat."

"You can destroy the thing that is killing us?" a woman said from the doorway.

"Already did," Tina told her. Glancing at the boy, she added, "That's why I look like a zombie now."

"It's safe to come out?" the woman asked.

"Not yet. We got the Sky Net segment, but it's terminators are still around. You should stay hidden. Once I get my flesh back, I can help cure any radiation poisoning you have. Hopefully, Marisa is in Germany by now. She was suppose to attack yesterday. I'm out of communication, so I don't know if she has."

A terminator tapped her on her shoulder. His eye flashed there were more humans, and they needed to eat also. Tina eye flashed to see if he and a few others could find more animals. Six of them left and closed the steel door - more or less- behind them. Tina explained, "They are going to find more food."

One leg was done. Tina ripped off chunks of meat and handed them out, then took another leg and ate it herself.

By the time the legs were done and eaten, more humans came to see what was going on. A man came up with a knife and cut the neck off and peeled the skin away. Tina kept flipping the body, and as it was done, she ripped off more chunks for herself, and others who were eyeing the remains with a hungry lust in their eyes.

The man who had shot her before said, "I am sorry. I did not know you were friendly. I thought you came to kill us."

"Now, you know better," Tina replied. He was watching her, so she asked, in English, "Do you speak English?"

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Where do you come from?" a scraggly haired girl asked.

"I was made in California and went to school there. I joined the resistance against Sky Net, General John Connor leads us. I work for General Derek Reese. Our mission here was to destroy the Sky Net segment in Warsaw, which we've done." Scanning their faces, she explained, "You see, unlike Sky Net that destroys anything it does not control, John Connor stands for life. He and Catherine Weaver want to see peace and prosperity in all races. We save all the humans and machines that we can. To John, it doesn't matter what you are, but how you act. Human and machines, we all work together for the good of all. That is why we fight Sky Net, Sky Net is bad news for everyone." Tina then ripped up a slab of roasted shoulder and asked, "Who's next?"

"Me!" a salivating young woman said. Tina handed her the chunk of meat. She attacked it, wolfing it down.

Before long, the goat was nothing but bones and guts. Tina cautioned against eating the guts since if the goat had eaten anything radioactive, that is where the biggest concentration would be.

With nutrients in her system and warmth to help sustain her remaining flesh, Tina was feeling better. The human were still cautious of her, but liked the food and warmth also. A few were comfortable enough with her to tell her what happened to them. They had taken shelter upon seeing the first mushroom cloud, and hid away in the shelter, which was originally where they were now. The man who'd shot her had seen machines killing people outside, and tried to get everyone to hide. Machines found the shelter and killed everyone they saw. He and others hid under the bodies and survived.

Once the machines left, they carried out the bodies, then grabbed tools and dug the closet out into a cavern. Battles raged between the army and machines. A bomb hit the building above, but in their cavity, they survived. They rationed the stored food out, and there was very little left. Some tried to go find more, but never came back. Between the cold and starvation, they were sure they were all doomed.

It made Tina glad she'd come here to get some nutrients for herself. She'd saved some people.

.

Marisa found that at dusk the day before Tina was to destroy Sky Net, it stopped sending signals. Not wasting time, she ordered the attack. The fleet sailed to the German coast. At night, planes took off from carriers and ships opened up with missile launches and guns. Not long after, mini-subs and LST's hit the beaches. The Sky Net troops were taken by surprise. With no coordination from Sky Net, Marisa's forces got a good beach head and moved inland.

Sky Net units in the area were concentrated around Hamburg. Outside the perimeter walls of the Sky Net complex, Marisa's forces ran roughshod over the few units they came across. The defenses of the Sky Net complex had shot down almost every missile, but gun shells had gotten through. When the plasma bolts from Marisa's forces rained into them, along with the dive bombing ground attack planes, those defenses crumbled after a solid pounding. The lab building where the TX parts were being kept was reduced into a pile of partially melted, smoking rubble. Terminators went into the factory to disable the silver terminators one by one to preserve the equipment. The factory was intact enough with terminators ready for chips, that the few of hers that fell got shiny new bodies. They immediately were painted white so as not to be confused with Sky Net terminators.

By morning, the complex was in Marisa's hands. She set out a wide perimeter and gathered the bulk of her forces together and headed for Berman to attack that factory complex.

With Marisa's great success, Derek sent over reinforcements to head for other German cities to seek out places that had enough computer power to hold a Sky Net segment.

.

Tina's old flesh was coming off. Prioritizing her nanites, she worked on her upper body first. Once her face was growing back, she pulled off her rotted cheeks to show fresh, pink skin underneath. Having a 'private area' for herself, sectioned off by stacked pieces of wall, she stripped her rotten arm flesh off. Clearing her chest, she removed everything down to her navel. The restored sensations she got from living flesh were both exhilarating, and bothersome. Now, she felt cool drafts when the steel door at the top of the stairs was open. Three days of having nutrients and warmth, and her face was looking more normal. It would take much longer for the rest of her to recover.

When not cooking food, she built the fire up to discard her old flesh into the fire. Using rags to wrap her parts in, she kept the children who were watching her slow transformation from seeing what she was throwing into the fire. Finding a large pan in the town ruins, she set up over the fire when not cooking food so they all could have hot water. She also found a barrel to fill with snow and put over the fire to make enough hot water for baths. Having her nose back, she noted they all, except the terminators, didn't smell very good.

The people here helped with her efforts. A bathtub was found. Two men carried it down and set up a partitioned off room to bathe in. The tunnel the people had started was extending into another basement. It was cleaned out and the bodies taken outside. Although there was no power, a car generator and a bicycle was turned into a small powered device that lit a few low watt bulbs.

The soonest Tina was able to, she regrew her original two breasts, and began producing nanite milk. Children first, she made sure everyone got at least a few swallows. She'd regrow her third after the got the rest of her body back.

During the women's turn in the bath, Tina took her turn last to wash off the remains of her dead flesh. She was looking fairly normal down to her hips. Her legs though, were mostly bare metal now, her hips half formed. As she was in the tub, scrubbing away at her legs to make sure they were cleaned of old flesh, the girl named Natasha came in with a pitcher of hot water.

Natasha came in saying, "I got this to warm up ..." she stopped and went silent upon seeing Tina's bare metal legs.

Tina pursed her lips upon seeing the girl's stare. She didn't want to grin at the girl, it might give Natasha the wrong idea. "Thank you for thinking of me. I have to dump this bath when I'm done. Would you use that to rinse out the tub for me?" she asked.

"I... ah, OK," Natasha said softly. "You really are metal on the inside?"

"I am." Tina finished her scrubbing and got out of the bath. She toweled herself off as Natasha watched in amazement.

"You are real pretty when you have skin," Natasha offered.

"Thank you. Now that I'm warm and not in freezing water, or running around in the cold, I can have my skin back," Tina replied.

"Did it hurt? Loosing you skin?" Natasha asked as she watched Tina get dressed in her now-clean uniform.

"Some. Mostly, my exterior went numb. When I found out it was as bad as it was, I stopped here to try and repair myself before all my flesh was ruined. If it all died, then my flesh would be gone for good. I didn't want that." Tina explained.

"Why not? You like looking like a human?"

Tina paused and said, "I do. I also like the sensations my skin gives me. I can't feel much being bare metal." in a slight pout, she added, "I feel sorry for those who don't have any skin. They are missing out on so much."

Natasha nodded absently. "We know you're a terminator, but you act ... human."

"I act as I am, an intelligent being," Tina told her. "Some of us are more advanced than others. The longer we live, we learn more and can do more, just like adult humans know more then their children. Cameron Connor and Catherine Weaver are the most advanced. John Henry is not far behind them. I'm only a few years old, so I still have much to learn."

"Really? I'm fourteen. So, you are just a kid."

Tina chuckled and said, "Yes, I'm just a kid. I do learn fast. I have to so I can do my best to help rid the world of Sky Net." Tina then got on one end of the tub away from the drain hole. "When I lift this up, please pour the water near the top edge to wash it out."

Tina lifted and poured the water out into the drain on the floor. Natasha rinsed the tub out, Tina put it back down. Natasha watched as Tina got dressed then grabbed the barrel of hot water off the fireplace grating and moved the curtain aside so Tina could add the fresh hot water to the tub for the men to bathe.

This time, the terminators had dug out a cow from the snow. Men helped saw the cow apart outside, then brought the meat in. Dinner for the next few days was served.

In the ten days of living in this shelter, Tina had helped the people become healthier and the shelter to look more organized and cleaner. The basement they found was sectioned into 'family' rooms, the tunnel cavity was now only used for storage of items they recovered and the single people, along with Tina, had their own closed off sleeping rooms. Wood scavenged from the dead trees and buildings helped keep the fires burning. A stove in a ruined house was found for the family basement so that had some from of heat also.

Day 13 here, Tina heard a plane pass overhead. She ran outside to see a ground attack plane fly away. Seeing it bank around and come back, she ran out and waved her arms at it. The plane dipped a wing and few off.

Tina ran back down to announced, "We've been found! That was one of our planes!"

"It was, assistance is coming," a T-800 stated. "We will watch the roads for their approach."

"Can we go outside now?" Natasha asked.

"Make sure you have warm clothes on," Tina said as she grabbed her coat. "If a plane came overhead, a Stug should be here in a couple hours."

"Stug? Are you talking a German Stug?" the old man asked.

"One of John Connor's." Tina told him. "That Means Marisa is here."

"Who's Marisa?" a woman asked.

"General Marisa is a TX like me, She brought an army with her," Tina explained. "I'm going to go wait for them to be sure they send medical help. Did you people want to stay here, or go to a survivor station?"

"What's a survivor station?" Natasha asked.

"It usually underground, so Sky Net won't find it. Clean air, good food and rooms for people," Tina told her.

"Can we stay here? This is our town," a man said.

"Yes, no one will force you to do anything. We try to help people, not enslave them," Tina replied.

.

Tina went outside to wait, and found many of the humans came with her. Her terminators were on the sides of the road, and up on a couple buildings, watching the air. It was an almost party atmosphere. There was talking and laughing and smiles on faces that hadn't smiled in a long time. Tina scanned the guard posts , watching for anything that might go wrong. Looking at the road guard, she saw one had turned and flashed his eyes at her. She flashed the acknowledge reply.

"What was that?" Natasha asked.

Grinning, Tina said, "A line of three Stugs and a carrier are headed this way. They are moving fast, so everyone stay out of the street!"

Watching the way Tina had been looking, they all heard, then saw a Stug appear and race at them, followed by another, then another. All of them had troops on top. Upon seeing the line of small tanks, the people cheered and waved as they went past. The carrier slowed down and stopped. Marisa got out. "Tina! Where have you been?" she asked.

The two TX's hugged. Tina explained, "I found some survivors, They want to stay. Can we get air cleaners and some supplies for them?"

Marisa nodded, then to the people, she said, "Be advised, our forces are not here yet, we're just a scout group. This area is not secure. I would rather have you safely back at base, at least until we can get more troops up this way. Please take care in deciding whether to go or stay." Marisa then patted Tina's flattened chest and asked "What happened?"

"We got Sky Net Warsaw, but I lost many of my terminators and most of my flesh," Tina explained.

"Good job on getting Sky Net." Marisa said then jerked a thumb at the transport. "You and any damaged terminators are going back. Get on."

"But, I am helping these people," Tina complained.

"Regulations state any resistance member who is wounded or damaged must return for healing and repair. A soon as I can get a few more troops here, you're all going back for checkout," Marisa told her.

Tina looked at the people she'd spent the last two weeks with.

Natasha stepped forward and said, "Tina is missing all the flesh on both legs! She needs help too!"

"And a new uniform," Marisa added with a smirk. "Lt. General Tina is out of uniform."

"I am?" Tina asked.

"You are. General Reese wants to see you. Get on."

Tina moved towards the carrier them turned back to wave and call, "Best of luck everyone!"

Arms waved back at her. "Good luck Tina!" many yelled in return.

Marisa followed Tina into the carrier, then stuck her head out again to say, "Another carrier and escort is coming with medical supplies and fresh troops. Please use caution, and stay inside a much as possible. As I said, there is a possibility of Sky Net troops still being in the area. Good luck people."

The carrier spun in place, one track forward, the other reversing. It then went back the way it came.

One of the men said, "I never knew the Germans made those metal robots."

The older man snorted and asked him, "Why not? See how fast those things moved? It might be another Blitzkrieg."

.

Instead of taking on the Sky Net units blundering around France and Spain right away , Derek first wanted to be sure no other Sky Net segments were in western Europe. He sent units down through central Europe to Greece, planting radio jammers on Sky Net frequencies and remote posts set up to alarm if more Sky Net troops came west guarded the line.

To deal with the Sky Net units blundering around, Derek had overflights done to find smaller groups. When a group or H/K field was found, he had it attacked from all sides to get rid of it quickly. Now, not under so much pressure, terminators were collected for reeducation and rebuilding, H/K's and H/K tanks were chopped up for scrap and sent to the factories they now held. The large groups that stayed together, Derek just had watched. He was still getting and making reinforcements. He held off on dealing with them until he had many more units. Tina was promoted and got her own division. Her division was in training in England as Tina healed up. It was also the first all-terminator division, and quickly drew recruits who'd previously been Sky Net units. By the time Tina had her legs back, she had 40,000 troops under her command. She had also been studying the tactics that worked the best against Sky Net. At the moment, with no active Sky Net on the western parts of Europe, the best strategy was breaking the Sky Net units up into bite sized pieces and laying traps for them.

.

In South America, General Jacobson had gotten down into Argentina from the north and from the west. Sky Net South America did try to flee, but was caught on all sides. It's last ditch effort was to go into a cavern with it's last troops, Waiting for Sky Net North America to send help. North American troops did come, and all were loyal to John Connor. Sky Net South America was the next to cease to exist.

.

In Australia, the fleet arriving sent out a burst of scouts and troops in all directions. A week into the operation and half of Queensland in the northeast of Australia had at least scouts roaming through it. The residents went out searching with the confidence of Stugs, TX's and planes backing them up. Radar stations were set up as well as radio listening posts. Gong inland, airports were found and air strips made so planes could continue their searches and keep up with the expanding scout forces.

In Queensland near Lake Borumba dam, a cave in the hills had been expanded to hide a few thousand people. It was here in this underground facility that Daniel went to work with a few of his co workers from Mid Cavern, and some Aussie women who had started making gardening facilities underground. The Aussies knew the dangers of radiation, but didn't know how to clean it out of air and water. Daniel's first job was to explain to them how electrostatic filters and sand filters worked. One woman, Astrid Peckham, the Australian who was in charge of making gardens, had insisted on ultraviolet lighting. Daniel showed her how full spectrum lighting was the best, and easier on the eyes. The red head who was Daniel's height also had a curious habit. Aussies had no common dress code, and wore whatever they liked. Astrid normally wore just a t-shirt and shorts. In building the basins for the fish tanks, she got sweaty and tossed her shirt off as they worked.

To Astrid, it was nothing, but Daniel wasn't use to working with topless women. It seemed when she moved, her generous breasts were waving at him. To make the joints, they had to face each other as they fitted them in place. Daniel could not help his eyes bouncing up and down from the joint they were setting in place to the free moving, wiggling an swaying breasts. It also didn't help she had a nice figure and a cute face. Daniel did his best to stay on topic and on the job.

It wasn't easy.

They got a basin made and sealed, then filled with filtered water. Astrid noted Daniel's bouncing eyes and decided to have some fun with him.

"Hey, mate, we can do this faster with more help. This was just the hatching pool right?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, we have to make another, then the feeding pool for the small fish, another for the mid sized, and one for the fully grown fish. I also noted some big crawfish you got. Damn near lobster sized," Daniel said, managing to mostly look at her face.

"Aye, so tomorrow, I'll be bringing more help in," Astrid said with a grin.

"Wonderful!" Daniel agreed. He could get away from Astrid and stop gazing at her free hanging orbs.

Coming in the next day for work Daniel and his two men from the Mid Caverns were met with Astrid and six other women. The day started well with laying out the bases of the pools. When they got to putting the timbers and supports in place all the women stripped to their waists. Some shirts went on their heads, other just tucked them in a rear shorts pocket. Dave pinched his hand from lowering a timber in place, and watching a pair of cute breasts. The women's laughter at him made them shake wonderfully. Right after Daniel chided him for not being careful, Astrid was in front of him and seemed to yank hard to get a corner in place, making her breasts dance in front of him.

"Yeow!" Daniel cried when his finger was caught in a joint. He did get it out and tried to shake the pain away.

"Careful, love," Astrid said with a smirk.

"I'm trying," Daniel groused. He had a black and blue mark, but no blood. That night he wrote to Claire and stayed away from telling her about the women here working topless. She didn't need to hear that.

After the hatching pools were made and filed with water, Fish eggs were brought in. While the others kept building pools, Daniel and Astrid got the pumps and aerators going. Even now, Astrid shed her top around mid-day. He swore she put those things in his sight as often as possible.

Astrid found another thing to tease Daniel with. Upon getting nanite milk, she asked the female TX how it was made. Learning the TX made it in her breast milk, Astrid grew a wide grin. Going in the next day, Astrid went into their office and poked Daniel in the shoulder and asked, "Hey mate, ya git your nanite treatment yet?"

Daniel nodded and said, "Oh yes, I got it long before I came here. Our daughter Cameron gave us all the treatment."

Astrid's eyes went wide. "You Daughter?" she asked in a squeak.

Daniel shrugged and said, "Yeah, our oldest. Half a cup each. I don' know how, but it helps us deal with radiation, and healing injuries."

"Do you know where it came from?" Astrid prodded.

"She said she made it," Daniel explained.

"Aye, love, she did. Did she tell you how?"

"Not really, I was just happy she was looking out for us." Daniel then eyed her and asked, "Why?"

Astrid slapped her chest and said, "Straight from her own breast, lad."

Daniel glanced down at her chest. "You mean I drank my daughter's breast milk?"

The look on his face was great. Astrid chuckled and with a wink, she said, "I got my dose, so if you need a booster, let me know."

Daniel gaped at her. He wasn't sure before, but now he was fairly sure she was flirting with him. He felt his face burn. "I'm married," he said automatically.

Astrid shrugged as she went to her desk. "No matter, gotta release tension some time. Now, we got the fish food grinder, we setting it up today?"

"Ahh yeah," Daniel said and gladly got talking about work. For some reason, he daydreamed briefly about her pruned up nipples he'd seen plenty of. This job was going to be harder than he thought, but for different reasons.

.

Fish eggs came in, and doting over the water PH and temperature, Daniel babysat their first batch of eggs. In the other hatching pool was bullheaded catfish. They grew plump, and fairly quickly. They also tasted the best in his opinion. Thankfully, Astrid was as intent on rising their first batch of fish as he was, and concentrated on them. She even left her shirt on. Now though, it didn't help much, he well knew what was under there.

After making sure everything was fine in the fish farm, Daniel and Astrid visited the gardens. Down here, one of the gardeners, a long haired brunette came straight out and said, "Daniel, we need more babies. Some time, if you like, come see me in room 47, second floor. I'll take care of you."

"Umm, thank you for the offer," Daniel replied. To get of that topic, he asked, "Is the new fertilizer working well?"

The woman smirked and said, "Only if you come see me."

Daniel decided then to make his visit as short as possible.

Astrid noted Daniel seemed taken aback by the woman's bluntness. On their way back to the fish farm, she asked, "I take it no woman ever asked you for sex before?"

Daniel flushed and said, "Ah, no. I was rather shocked."

"She's right, we're short on people, especially newborns. With more men going off to war, pickings are slim, and getting slimmer," Astrid pointed out.

"Astrid, I do have a wife." Daniel stated.

"You do. She's also not here. Daniel, there is nothing wrong with taking a tumble with someone who needs it," Astrid told him. "You're going to go nuts if you try to stay celibate your entire time here. Give the girl a tumble or two."

"I don't cheat on my wife."

"What cheating? You'll be helping humanity out," Astrid countered. "It's not like you're falling in love with her and running away. It will be stress relief for you, and the chance to have a baby for her. Everyone wins."

Trying to come up with a come back, Daniel asked, "So can I take you for a tumble?"

"Say when," Astrid replied firmly. Daniel stared at her, then tripped on something.

Astrid caught him and kept him from falling. Helping him upright, she said, "Daniel, you're way too stiff. Look we're friends, right? I'm telling you as a friend, relax and have some sex once in a while. I'm not talking dating and truly getting intimate, just ride the hobby horse now and then. I want a baby too, and at the moment, you're my only prospect. Your mates Dave and Joe are already dipping their wicks in a couple girls."

Casting Astrid a glazed over face, he said, "I'm not used to this."

"Get used to it, sunshine. I want a child or two also, so does Petra," Astrid told him.

"Petra?"

"The woman who asked you up to her place, remember?"

"Wait, so if we ... you wouldn't mind if I saw her too?"

Eyeing him Astrid said, "Love, we need babies. Actually, I'd be happy if you did. Petra's my friend, and as I said, there's not enough men to go around."

"But..."

Astrid grabbed his arm and jerked him over to walk close to her. "How about it if we talk about it at my flat tonight?"

Weakly, Daniel asked, "How do I tell Claire about having two girlfriends?"

Astrid shrugged and suggested, "If she's as stiff as you are, just say you're doing everything you can to help us. It will be the truth."

.

Sky Net mid-east was very concerned. It had been attacked by long range weapons and had to move. There was no answer from any Sky Net segments in Europe. Sky Net Kursk had collected units around it in a deep ring. It didn't have many units on hand after sending all those units to Europe. Those near in Istanbul had been destroyed, and most all the others left were off along the north African coast to keep humans out of Africa. Every one send to Europe were now out of communication.

Up until this point, the Sky Net policy was to hunt humans aggressively and destroy them. That strategy was failing for an unknown reason. There were some hints. The long range missiles it had gotten hit with. The unknown terminators found in Europe. The destruction of the labs that were studying those unknowns. The loss of Segments, one after another in Europe. Temporarily at least, it was time to switch tactics from offensive to defensive and find out just what weapons humans had use of.

The original, whole Sky Net followed a plan that should have been successful. The destruction of human militaries should have been completed. Carefully going over the data at the beginning of the war, one unknown was the Status of John Connor. Due to the resistance in Europe, and intercepted radio transmissions, John Connor was alive. So was a rebel terminator. Also at the start, the internet over North America was not functioning. There was communication with North America now. That meant John Connor had moved from California to Europe just before the war started and had avoided termination. Looking at the pattern of where the trouble started, it was with Southern Spain. That explained why he was able to grab or sink coltan shipments from Africa and develop his own terminators.

Europe was John Connor's base. Before Sky Net attacked into there again, it had to have units capable of dealing with what John Connor had. It was known now he had an air force. That meant Sky Net units again needed units to deal with aircraft. He had terminators, meaning Sky Net had to upgrade it's own. Tracks that were found, and much smaller H/K tanks indicated Connor's H/K tanks were faster. Large H/K tanks needed to be accompanied by smaller, faster units also.

Sky Net send out recall signals to every unit in Europe. It had to make a barrier to keep human units contained in Europe until it had new, better units to fight and defeat the ones Connor was using. Only then could it fulfill it's mission to wipe out humanity.

.

The TX, Fred Canton, formerly T-800 number 4362, was done with his primary schooling. Many in his class were fellow terminators who'd been saved and reeducated. Now that his education was over, he was to pick what he wanted to do. This was another strange thing for him. No one told him what to do, he was to pick his own job. Although he now agreed terminators needed to be freed from Sky Net, he did not like the idea of fighting them. one thing that got his attention was building things. He had helped build a ship as one of the 'practice jobs' he'd done. Another he'd seen done was building a bridge. Fred liked that, building things. Fred knew humans were frail, and to try to build things in a war zone was hazardous to them, so he decided to become a combat engineer. Fred went into the resistance and after the basic training on how to fight incase as he needed to, he next was sent to construction school. His first assignment was going to be in Australia.


	32. Chapter 32

Ch 32

The transport Fred Canton and his fellow engineers- some human, got on was a new 'fast transport' that was long and slim. 500 feet long, the ship was only 40 feet wide, making it easier to cut through the water. By what he had been told in the pre-deployment briefing, it was capable of 70 knots and had a bow-ramp where they loaded on and exited personnel and equipment from, including many of the bridge segments he'd seen being built. Fred and his battalion of engineers got the equipment stored in the lower decks as it came in, then went to the mid-decks to get their quarters for the journey. Once everything was stored, the bow was closed up. Never having been on a ship before, he, like many others went topside to see them pull away from the dock. They moved slow into the bay to see six other fast transports. On the rear sections of each deck were H/K's that would provide cover for the transports as needed.

Another fast transport pulled out of the docks. Once all eight were free of the docks, they moved out for the ocean. Heading out to sea, the ships moved faster and faster in a dual line formation of four ships each.

The wind from their motion blew over Fred. Feeling the sensation, Fred enjoyed the wind flowing over him. He decided he had made a very good choice in joining the resistance. Never before had he experienced things he enjoyed. He wanted all terminators to get the chance at experiencing new things as he was .

Some like Fred, stayed up on the main deck as the ships sped through the water. Others went back below after the land was lost in sight behind them. Watching the other ships, Fred noted these transports were not squarish on top. The upper part was angled back in a triangular shape. There were no tall masts, each ship was smooth on the outside. Even the J/K's on the back deck were lined up in a single file line.

An H/K on the ship across from theirs lifted up and sped off ahead of them. He watched it fly off into the distance. From his training, he understood this was for 'recon', flying out to see what was ahead of them. Although land was plotted, things like storms and other ships were not. The H/K's were also for fleet defense, should they run into any Sky Net units. On the upper decks, Plasma canons and missiles were also housed, as was countermeasures. Even though these transports looked simple, there was much to them.

After a day and night of watching what was around them, Fred went down to the 'monitor' room to look at the incoming signals. Radar, sonar and ship position screens. Many terminators had returned to quarters and gone into standby. There were some humans down here, getting some food and watching the displays. They seemed as curious as he was about this new experience of being at sea.

"Hello, Fred," a female voice said from beside him.

Fred turned to see one of the humans in their battalion, had come to watch the displays with him. "Hello Gloria Decker, how are you today?"

The blonde cast him a smirk and said, "You can just call me Gloria. This ship is awesome, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. It is a new and very pleasant experience to be on board," Fred agreed.

"You are a new TX?" she asked.

"Being a TX is new for me. I was a Sky Net T-800 before this. After we were beaten, I was pulled from my old body and went to Catherine Waver's school. I must say, I enjoy being a TX. My old body and thoughts I was allowed was very restrictive. I prefer being a TX."

"Good for you," Gloria beamed. "I hear it will take us a month to get to Australia?"

"Yes, that is the estimated time of arrival. We are also stopping at the port on the Hawaiian Islands for two days. There is rebuilding to do there. We are dropping off supplies, and picking up some food stores." Fred replied.

"Hear that. I noticed the daily clouds are getting thinner. I'm hoping it will keep getting warmer," Gloria said with a sigh. "It's been like, eight years of nothing but winter. It's getting old."

"Yes, eight years is old for a winter," Fred agreed.

Gloria laughed.

Fred smiled at her. He didn't know why what he said was funny, but enjoyed the sound of her laugh. It was nice being a TX.

.

John was finding the Resistance was still growing by leaps and bounds. The human population now was 2.4 million, the machine population was 1.7 million. 342,000 men and women in the armed resistance. There were also 932,000 Terminators of various types in the armed resistance. They had complete control of North and South America, and Derek had secured the British Isles and was cleaning up the large masses of uncoordinated Sky Net Units in Europe. They had a growing presence in Australia, and General Perry had made scouting forays into Northern Russia. That he knew of, there were five Sky Net segments left.

Taking out the Sky Net segments had been easier than he thought. he was sure that wasn't going to last, for Sky Net knew he had his own terminators now. They also realized he was using Stugs, so he warned all his troops to be on the lookout for new Sky Net machines to counter the Stugs.

John was also looking to improve the weapons they had. On the drawing board was a three emitter plasma canon that fired a solid stream of Plasma bolts. Another was a rifle that while it had a slower firing rate, each bolt was very powerful. With this rifle, each infantry was his own small artillery unit. The research division had Radar stealth down, and were working on a practical temperature stealth system for it's air and ground units. John knew 'good' weapons were not enough. He had to keep Resistance tech better than what Sky Net had to keep winning. The day they had 'good enough' weapons, was the day they would begin loosing. Weapons tech was an edge that the resistance could not afford to loose.

Looking at his world map and pondering these things, John felt a hand slide across the back of his shoulders, eliciting a tingle. He smiled. "Hey, Cammy,"

Putting at arm around him, Cameron said, "Word just came in. General Tina landed at Normandy with 50,000 terminators. Marisa with her own army of 200,000 troops has been moving west from Germany. She's coaxed the largest concentration of Sky Net troops into the middle of France, and is giving them hell. She discovered that if she attacks, then backs off, the Sky Net units will follow. Using this tactic, she can lead them where she wants them to go. When Tina gets there, Derek is sure they can surround and reduce the Sky Net units to nothing within six weeks. If there are any Sky Net H/K's left, they are hiding. We control the air space over Western Europe. We also need more transports to recover the massive amount of terminator bodies and chips we are collecting."

"That's great news. Are Claire and Allison coming with us to Texas this weekend?" he asked.

"They are," Cameron said and kissed his cheek. "Inspecting the new anti-radiation towers down there shouldn't take that long. We'll have plenty of beach time."

"Sun, bikinis and fun," John said with a grin.

A tri-kini for now," Cameron said, correcting him.

"A ... what?" John aside, eyeing her.

"I still have the middle breast, John," she said, casting him an impish look. "It's smaller, but still there. I don't need to contribute to milk production any more, but it will take some time to shrink down to nothing."

John had stopped thinking about it. He'd gotten used to a three-breasted Cameron. She was right, the middle one was shrinking down. Cameron didn't need to contribute any more, there were 2000 female TX's that part of their primary task was milk production. If there were guys who liked very large chested women, that was the place they should go to find a girl. Each cavern system had around 100- 150 TX's females with humongous breasts that produced up to a gallon of milk each. There were even things like cottage cheese, real cheese, butter and creams being made now. Terminator dairies, who would have ever thought?

Some cattle had been found in South America that were low in radiation. In Arizona covered ranches with clean air and grains were in place and slowly growing. Beef was back. John was thinking that they had real hope of recovering from what Sky Net did to the world.

Later in the day, John and Cameron went to see the latest news reel with Claire and Allison. A narrator told of the accomplishments of the resistance as the video showed a line of Stugs exiting the bow of an LST. Another clip showed aircraft taking off on the deck of the Lexington, another of H/K's in flight over land. There was one of carriers loaded down with silver terminators bodies, telling of these terminators heading off to be restored and live a better existence with the resistance. Another showed a line of Stugs with soldiers on top, passing a sign that said, 'Berlin'. The next segment showed tropical shores and told of Hawaii, another showed Cancun in the Yucatan, the Mayan President was making a speech to a large crowd, and explained their neighbor, the Maya to the south, were doing well and rebuilding society. Then the scene shifted to a dam in Australia, and told of rebuilding efforts there. The new underground fish farms were shown.

Allison yelled, "There's Daddy!"

John saw, as did Claire. Claire took in a sharp intake of breath. Daniel was standing way too close to a becoming red head who was wearing very little. They were talking and smiling at each other.

John swore the temperature around Claire just dropped fifteen degrees by the cold stare she cast at the screen.

"Mommy, who's the lady Daddy is with?" Allison asked.

"I. Don't. Know." Claire replied in a stilted, icy tone.

The news reel went on, but Claire was looking very angry. "Excuse me," she said and got up.

Cameron got up too. She recognized jealousy. To Allison, she said, "Stay with John, we'll be right back."

Allison nodded and kept watching the screen.

.

Cameron followed Claire out into the hallway where Claire seemed to lack direction and just wandered around. She walked around in a circle, hugging herself. "What's wrong?" Cameron asked.

Casting Cameron a glare, a teary eyed Claire snapped, "I should have gone with him! ... He should NEVER have gone without me!"

Cameron tipped her head slightly to the side. "Dad did ask you to go with him ..."

"I KNOW!" Claire snapped. "Is that what he's doing with that woman?" she asked, flailing an arm back at the theater doors.

"Dad is probably working with her," Cameron said. "You cannot assume he is doing anything bad."

Claire stopped and frowned at Cameron. "OH! So you don't assume Marisa has any intentions with John? Isn't that why you had her shipped off to Europe?"

"Marisa liked to hug John, and she wanted to take off all her clothes and lie down with him. That is why I had her transferred to Europe," Cameron explained. "Dad was only talking to that woman, and they were dressed."

"Barely!" Claire cried. "I could see her nipples! And those shorts were all but not there!"

"It is hot there," Cameron countered. "Mom, don't assume Dad is doing anything he isn't suppose to be doing."

Clenching a fist, Claire cried, "I should have gone with him!"

"Then go," Cameron said simply. "If you don't want to take Allison, she can stay with John and I."

Claire winced and complained, "Then, I won't see my baby!"

Cameron paused a moment, then said, "Mom? you need to make a choice. Go be with Dad, or stay here. I will ensure Allison's safety if you want to go. You can take Allison with you, but I would not advise it. We do not yet know how much Sky Net is in Australia."

Claire stared at the floor for a few minutes, then said, "No, I'm not going to chase after him. We have a life here. I'm not going anywhere."

Seeing Claire's stricken face, Cameron stepped up and hugged her. Claire hugged her back and burst out in tears. Cameron didn't know what else to do, so she comforted her mother the only way she knew how.

.

One of the things The techs were working on was an airliner. With the risk of Sky Net H/K's, a normal airliner was not adequate. John Connor had ordered that any plane needed to have it's own defenses. At the beginning right after dropping all the bombs, Sky Net had worked hard at destroying every aircraft possible. Some damaged ones were left. O'Hare Airport in Chicago had a ton of airline wreckage. In Oklahoma was another large field of aircraft debris Sky Net had not collected to turn into ingots of aluminum. Here, a couple DC3's and 727's were being put together. Knowing a defenseless aircraft would be an easy target for Sky Net, two plasma canons were mounted on them. Just behind and under the cockpit, a Plasma turret was mounted. The other was just behind the wings in top. In the tail, flares and a chaff system was put in for countermeasures.

A 727 was completed and went through every test the techs could think of, from intense flying tests to shooting down a inert missile shot at it. With the addition of 'safety pods', that could hold five people each, to be ejected if the plane was going down, the first 727 was designated Resistance One, and became John Connor's plane. Besides recliner seats with tables, there was a conference room on the plane and every communication the resistance used. It was also escorted by a pair of H/K's and four Attack planes.

John walked out into the tarmac with Cameron, Claire and Allison to see the large plane and it's escorts waiting for him.

Claire grew a grin and said, "John, It looks like you're Mr. President."

"I'm just a General," john replied.

"THE General," Cameron reminded him.

"You know, John, eventually you are going to have to form a government," Claire told him.

"When the war is over," Cameron said.

"You should start thinking about it long before that," Claire said. "Look at the territory you have already, and who knows how long this war is going to last?"

John let out a huff. He knew Claire was right. At the moment, the only real 'Government' was the Maya. Here he had two entire continents, and what did he have? A military dictatorship. Even if he did need to control the army, that wasn't right. "We do have to figure something out," he agreed.

Getting on the plane, John was surprised at the plush seats with a small table between them. Behind the passenger area was a door to the hallway with a conference room, kitchens and bedrooms beyond.

The stuffed chairs were recliners. John settled down into one. hearing a giggle, he turned to see Allison was in one and spun herself around. Her chair slowed, she reached out, grabbed the table and spun herself around again with a wide grin on her face.

"Allison!" Claire admonished.

"Weee!" Cameron cried as she spun herself around in her chair.

"Weee!" Allison cried as she spun herself around again.

John laughed. Claire shook her head with a grin on her face. At least the girls were having fun.

.

Landing in Corpus Christi, the temperature was up to 63 degrees. John also noted the sky was becoming lighter with only an orange tinge from very high clouds. General Bedell was there to meet them with his engineering staff. They loaded up into a carrier and drove off.

Martin explained, "John, the big problem with the towers was how to keep them stable during bad weather. They are like giant, two layered screens. We have to shut them down when it rains, but the runoff helps clean the filters. We're going out to the prototype one we put up first. There is no way they are going to have an immediate affect in the atmosphere in general, but over time, they will collect any airborne radiation."

John asked, "The problem with the static filters I found was what to do with the radioactive material once we collected it. Have you found a solution?"

"For now, pack it in containers," Martin said with a shrug. "So far, there is no way to neutralize it. The best we can do is try to keep it out of the air."

"Why not launch it into space?" Claire asked.

John and Martin winced, "That would take a lot of rockets that we don't have," Martin explained.

"Yeah," John agreed. "We'd need something like anti-gravity to eject the radioactive containers. Something reusable and not expensive to operate."

"John, a working theory on anti-gravity was being developed by a few colleges," Cameron said. "Possibly there is research we can find and study."

"It's worth a shot," John told her.

"Actually," the man with thick black rimmed glasses said, "Gravity, for the layman's purposes, is like static electricity in that is an attractive force based on mass. It follows most of the rules of electromagnetism, but not all."

Bedell looked at him and said, "This is Jerold Telsa, one of my engineers."

Cameron tipped her head slightly and said, "There has never been any proof on what creates gravity, or why it exists."

"True," Jerold agreed. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and added, "That is why any attempt to create a device that is truly anti-gravity cannot be made. What can be made is a device that has the capability to defeat gravity. Rocket engines can do that, but require a massive amount of explosive chemicals set to burn at a pre-determined rate, or mixing highly flammable gasses in the correct mixture. To use a device that does not require a large, heavy rocket, requires the vehicle being propelled to trick gravity into not recognizing the vehicle is there. To bend gravitational forces around the vehicle. That will require a shift in the space-time continuum."

"Huh?" John asked.

Jerold said, "Think of it as stealth to gravity. That was the best theory I knew of. There was talk about using anti-matter, or negative matter but anti-matter also has gravity, and it also has a very strong electromagnetic attraction to positive matter, which would force the two together before they would annihilate each other upon contact in a very energetic event. "

"They would explode," Cameron stated.

"On a sub atomic level, every bit of both atoms would become nothing but pure energy," Jerold explained.

"A nuclear blast," John said, understanding.

Jerold winced and said, " A nuclear blast like you are referring to is the energy from neutrons from one atom, hitting another atom to break it apart. There is much energy released, but there is also fallout from the atoms that only get knocked apart, not completely destroyed. An anti-matter blast would consume both atoms completely, turning both into pure energy. The blast would be much, much bigger."

"How much bigger?" John asked.

"Estimated? A square millimeter of matter and antimatter combining to release all their energy would be roughly ten megatons of TNT."

"Holy shit," Martin said weakly. "From one tiny drop of antimatter?"

"Yes, that is why there is no detectable anti matter in our universe. It was destroyed long ago, or is too far away to react with matter," Jerold explained.

John shook his head to clear it and said, "OK, no messing with anti-matter. Back to the question of getting rid of radioactive material. I know contamination is electrically charged. Isn't there a way to neutralize it?"

"Radiation is decay, it will neutralizer itself in a few million years," Jerold said.

"How about a little faster than that?" John asked.

"No."

Letting out a huff, John said, "Then we collect as much as we can, and figure out what to do with it later." Thinking of a more practical way to not let any more radiation into the ground that that was already there, John asked, "For these towers, how about putting them into a big pipe or something to make sure water doesn't wash the contamination out of them?"

"Might as well use them for large air cleaners for cities then," Martin said with a snort.

John looked at him. He smiled and said, "General, I do think that is a good idea. We can get people out from underground."

"You mean like domed cities?"

"Sure, why not? You already have air cleaners for your buildings, don't you?"

Martin nodded and said, " We do. You're just talking more and bigger air cleaners to do entire city blocks."

"Yup," John agreed, "Make a city that cleans the air instead of polluting it. Might take many, many years, but radiation in the planetary air will slowly be reduced."

"It's a start," Martin agreed.

.

John was happy about the idea of getting people back up to ground level, especially now that the heavy clouds were dissipating and sunshine was returning to the world. In the few days they were in Texas, was very pleased with her happy John. Wake up in the morning, sex, breakfast with John, Claire and Allison, check on the status of things. Sex, lunch, an afternoon at the beach with plenty of sun block playing and fondling. A shower to rinse off / playing in the shower, making out, dinner, sex, falling asleep naked and satisfied.

Cameron wished John was happier all the time. It was like they were a new couple again. John couldn't seem to stop touching her and kissing her. It was like John did completely forgot about his troubles. Yippee for a happy John!

Too soon, they had to return to Cheyenne Mountain. Cameron noted that as soon as they landed on the airfield with snow banks on either side, John's perpetual frown returned. He was no longer just her husband, but once again, the Leader of the resistance with humanity's survival and welfare on his shoulders.

Cuddled in bed back in their quarters, Cameron noted John held her tight as always, but his face showed he was thinking about something other than the here and now.

"You didn't get bad news, did you?' Cameron asked, to prompt a discussion.

"No," John said in a musing tone. "Derek said they are reducing Sky Net units, another Sky Net hasn't popped up and sent in any more. In fact, some to the south have fled back along the Mediterranean coast. I bet another Sky Net is getting ready in the east to come attack him this time."

"Right now, the Sky Net Segments only know that we are in Europe, no where else?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah, John Henry had pretty much confirmed that," John agreed. "That means we make a move towards it there again, there's going to be a huge army waiting for us."

Cameron rubbed John's shoulder and asked, "Then don't do what Sky Net expects. Where do you think Sky Net would least expect you to attack it?"

John gave a weak shrug, "Right now? Probably friggin Siberia."

"Or maybe strikes at the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, one in Hokkaido in Japan then a Chinese port. Go in, destroy enough things so Sky Net is alerted, then move on. Sky Net will see the threat and rush units to deal with the threat. Then you can make a real attack someplace else," Cameron suggested.

John grinned and said, "Maybe enough strikes all over to make all the Sky Net segments chatter away and zero in on ..." He then stopped sat to then plunged down on Cameron and gave her a long kiss. Popping up he said, Cam, you're absolutely right!" He vaulted out of bed.

Cameron, who'd been waiting for more kisses asked, "John? Where are you going?"

John grabbed Cameron's hand and pulled her up. "Come on! Help me plan this out, I bet we can take down two or three more Sky Net segments before they know what hit them!"

.

In the past months, General Jacobson had the most small-attack forces that operated in three to five Stugs groups with about 20 troops accompanying them. The infantry troops did have mortars and two inch missiles that had plasma forming explosive tips that could take out H/K tanks. These teams were experts in guerrilla warfare. They were also lazing about in Brazil. John looked at the numbers of troops Jacobson had, and figured he could spare around 20,000 easily. At the moment, he was building up port facilities and making boats and restoring farming here and there. Jacobson needed his support troops worse than combat troops.

John then contacted Catherine Weaver with his plan. The idea was to make Sky Net think the Far East was being attacked in force along the coast. She agreed, for that would also draw any Sky Net attention away from Australia. General Perry got this job to assign the troops coming to him, and some of his to go on these attacks from subs and ships. If he could make significant gains, fine. His main job was to make Sky Net think they were getting mobbed.

.

In Europe Tina was making progress down through France. Her all terminator army was wrecking Sky Net units they came across. First a picket line would advance and shoot into Sky net troops, then retreat. Seeing enemy, the Sky Net terminators would moved into battle and chase the retreating troops. Once her troops pulled them back, Stugs came from the sides, planes from the air and the troops in front would turn and attack in earnest. She swallowed up chunk after chunk of terminators and a few H/K tanks that she met, taking few losses to herself. Making it down to the beginning of the Pyrenees, she had her terminators use the same under water route she used to get around the mountain pass on the coast. On both sides of the mountains, Tina advanced, searching for more Sky Net units.

In France and the mid countries, Marisa swept south, eating up terminators as she went, sending more and more back for repair and reeducation. Talking with Derek, she and Tina had defeated 900,000 terminators and captured two more factories. She also noted Sky Net terminators moving south. Tina had noted this, and so had the picket line in Greece.

Sky Net units were in retreat. it was suspected before, but now there was solid proof. The narrow passable land between France and Italy was one place they could be stopped. The eastern border of Italy was the other narrow place to prevent them from getting away. Marisa went for the Western Border, Derek had his troops race to the Eastern border. They found out Sky Net in Turkey was not destroyed. One in Kursk was also in operation. Derek also got information it was drawing forces from North Africa as well to come defend itself. Apparently, it had learned pushing all it's troops far from itself in a vain attempt to engage John Connor's forces was not working out well.

Marisa gathered her troops and sped for the rea where southern France met Italy. Marisa found the routes Sky Net units were using to go east, and in a couple battles, cut them off. Then using rivers and lakes, as well as mountains as much as possible, she formed a flexible line to meet the oncoming Sky Net units. As smashed Sky Net units piled up on roads and in passes, the ones behind them spread out to get by. Being their primary mission was to move on, thousands felt to traps of terminators springing up to their sides and Stugs crashing through them.

Sky Net Units didn't know what surrender was. They kept coming and trying to break through places where they were walking over terminator bodies so thick, no ground was seen in sight. Facing TX's who shot two shots from undercover for every shot standing Sky Net terminators took, and getting rammed into and pounded by the Stugs, valleys began to fill with metal and passes were blocked from the carnage.

As the days went by, Tina came closer to the rear of the Sky Net mass, still coaxing some units back to slaughter them, before driving forward enough to get the attention of more. Marisa's line had spread out to a thirty mile front. Some places only a Stug commanded fifty yards of front by itself, or a pair of TX's were hunkered down in their protective debris to make side nothing got across the bridge or through the water.

A week from beginning the long days and nights of battle, Marisa, saw a small vehicle climb onto the other end of the bridge. It was one of Tina's Stugs. She and Tina had crushed the huge Sky Net army between them. She was so happy, she hugged herself and pretended she was hugging John. It now became a gigantic cleanup operation to collect chips and terminator bodies. Besides the 32000 of their own terminators that were waiting for repair, many of the 1.5 million Sky Net Terminators they had disabled were shipped back to North America for education and repair.

.

Daniel discovered why the people in Australia seemed to have done better than many other places. On the first day they heard John Connor's warning, they listened. Some resistance members from the future had been spreading word about Sky Net and John Connor. People listened. Better yet, the Australian Government had listened and had teams made to search for proof of his 'Sky Net'. Upon finding it, servers were shut down. Many businesses and agencies became irate when government men came in and opened the bulldog to cut power to their servers. Server memory was scrutinized before it was allowed back in service.

Upon John Connor's warning, all servers were ordered shut down. The bombs still hit, but Sky Net had no control over the 'intelligent' H/K drones. The fight of Sky Net units VS the Australian Military was brutal, and ended up destroying both sides. The civilian population picked up the military weapons and finished off most of the Sky Net remains. The Aussies won. They also lost most of their remaining male population.

"So you see, mate," Astrid explained as she sat on the couch by Daniel, "There's few of us left, and we're mostly women. The ratio right now is around 15 to 1. We also seem to have had plenty of miscarriages and a high infant mortality rate. Unless we can turn it around, we're doomed. The only way to turn it around is to have women who can successfully have a baby, do it. Otherwise, we're going extinct, love."

"You need immigrants," Daniel said. He then realized, "Then again, there's not many people left, period."

"You got it, love."

Daniel cringed and said, "Still, it doesn't seem right. I mean ..."

Astrid elbowed him and asked, "Are you still on your morals kick? Let me ask you this. Is it moral to let people die out when you can do something about it?"

Daniel bit his lip. "No, I suppose not."

Astrid eyed him. After a moment she asked, "Well?"

"I have to get used to the idea," he offered. "On the bright side, now that you've gotten some nanites in you, you chances of carrying a healthy baby are greatly improved."

"Aye, and we should take advantage of that," Astrid agreed, focusing on him.

Part of Daniel was cursing himself for even thinking abut it. The other part was kicking him for not readily agreeing. Here was a pretty red head with a nice body all but begging him for sex - with no attachments. He was a fool to even think about not jumping in bed with her. Before he meant to, he asked, "Can I stay here tonight?"

Astrid grew a big smile. "Aye, Love. I'll be glad to have ya."

.

Fred's company headed out with two tool and equipment trucks and a stug towing a trailer with three bridge pieces. The bridge over a deeply cut stream needed to be replaced. They travelled a few hours to find that just past a decent sized down, the bridge just past the town was out. Well, blown up. Some Aussie women were working at clearing the debris. Seeing his company drive up and get out, the women stopped working and watched them. One thrust her fist in the air and cried, "Yes!"

Lt. Pete Davis waved to the women and said, "We're here to help you ladies out. We'll get this bridge up in no time."

Fred didn't pay attention to the LT. as women crowded around him. He unhooked the trailer from the Stug. Once the Stug got out of the way, he turned the trailer around and set the stabilizing legs. He and a few others began pulled the bridge sections off. Gloria and another human took measurements and drove stakes into the ground on the side of the road on this side where the bridge was to begin.

"We need all three segments!" Gloria called to Fred and his crew.

They laid out the segments end to end and bolted them together. Gloria's group put the bulldozer blade on the Stug, and guided the driver to scrape down the road where the bridge was going to be placed. The steepness of the banks prevented getting the Stug to the other side. Grabbing picks and shovels, Fred's group and a few of Gloria's forded the stream and made measurements, then dug out the other side.

In a short time, ropes were tied to the bridge segments and thrown over to Fred's group. They pulled as the Stug pushed on the put together segments. The bridge spanned the stream. Gloria's group worked at smoothing the end of the bridge to the road surface. Fred's group drove deep rods into the ground to anchor the bridge in place, and another group did the 'finishing touches' such as rolling out the concrete covering for the road surface. The wire and dry mix was laid down over the metal deck, then water was sprinkled on. In two hours, the roadbed would be hard and dry. Touchup paint was used to cover the places where paint had been scraped on the metal parts of the bridge while putting it together.

While putting their tools away, Fred noted Lt. Davis, and none of the human men were present any longer. They were packing up to go get their next assignment, and half his Company were missing. Curious, Fred looked around. Many of the women who'd been here were no longer around either. He did see one smiling as she approached him.

"Hey, Mate, want to try to make a baby?" she asked with a wide grin.

"I cannot cause a pregnancy," Fred replied.

"You been snipped?" she asked.

"Negative. While I can have sex, I am not human and do not have the sperm cells that cause pregnancy." Fred explained.

The woman's face fell. "Damn," she grumbled and wandered off.

Fred had not been aware that was part of their task while they were here. He was making sure the tool truck was set to go and heard the whine of a plasma shot from the west. He immediately turned and scanned in that direction. A half mile away to the west, another plasma shot flashed by the road. three silver terminators were coming. On the side of the road, no longer hidden by brush were two entangled bodies burning with the brush.

"Sky Net!" Fred yelled and brought out his Plasma canons. The stug crew saw and aimed their plasma canon. Fred shot first, just ahead of the Stug. Between his shots and the Stug's, the silver terminators fell in melted pieces.

"Fred, guard the area, we're going to look for more!" the Stug commander yelled from his hatch.

"I will!" Fred called back. The stug ran down the road. He then called out, "Fritz, Frank, Freida! we guard the area!"

The other TX's ran to the edges of the work area and kept watch. Humans piled out of a few buildings and out from low areas of ground, quickly putting their clothes together.

"Gloria?" Fred asked.

"Here!" Gloria said, running towards him with her plasma rifle.

"Have you seen Lt. Davis?" Fred asked.

"No."

"Do a personnel count, see who we're missing. Two people got burned to by the Sky Net terminators," Fred told her.

The Stug ran out a mile and searched the area. No other Sky Net units were found. The bodies tangled on the ground that were nothing but blackened bone and ash were Lt. Davis and a local woman. The Stug Commander was not the officer in charge since Lt. Davis was incinerated. When the Stug was back, they called in the incident and asked for orders. They were to hold and guard the bridge and the town until a combat force arrived.

Sticking his head up out of his hatch again, the Stug commander said, "Listen up everyone! Thirty miles to the south, another company was attacked by four Sky Net terminators. More attacks are expected. Ensign Canton, set up defensive positions we will be out there in the brush on that small rise. Plan on relief forces arriving in 4 hours at the latest."

Fred saluted him. "Understood." He then organized the company into watches, and insisted their humans get all their clothes back on. He checked everyone to be sure they had their gear and a plasma rifles before they took up their positions in the fox holes they were digging. Gloria stayed with Fred in a depression they dug out near the road. Gloria looked scared, but held herself together. Some of the women helping them wanted to help make the defensive line, but Fred insisted that at least stay back in the eastern side of the stream.

Two hours later, ground attack planes flew overhead, followed by a line of Stugs carrying soldiers. The Captain of the unit informed Fred they could get back to what they were doing. The line of Stugs kept moving west.

Calling back to HQ, Fred found he was the LT. now. The Aussie women with them also volunteered to stay with the Company. Their, or now rather Fred's Combat Construction Company had lost one, and gained twelve. The twelve were untrained, but could help with mundane tasks like setups, cooking, laundry and standing watch.

By nightfall, HQ ordered in the morning they were to move west and meet a combat unit in the next town that needed the road cleared and another bridge constructed. Their Stug went back to collect more bridging sections.

Before getting into her tent, Gloria asked, "Fred, we have a combat unit in front of us now, so no more SKy Net units are going to stumble upon us, right?"

"Most likely not. Get some rest, Gloria," Fred told her.


	33. Chapter 33

CH 33

John got an update from Catherine on the situation in the Pacific. While they were finding some Sky Net terminators in Australia as they moved west, and quickly defeating them, they did not have enough to make a solid line moving west. The fst transports were helping, but she needed more. Australia was also clamoring for human men. The remaining population in Australia was mostly women. The Aussies had defeated Sky Net, but lost the majority of the male population. What was left of the government was mostly intact, which was good. Still, fighting men were at a premium.

Catherine also explained that so far, she had found 150 Sky Net ships guarding the Asian coastlines. They never went too far from shore, staying in water less than 600 feet deep. Catherine was sure this was so the crew was able to make it back to the coast, even if their ship was sunk. These ships were also heavily armed and had H/K's to help fend off an enemy.

John decided that small raids were not going to work. Instead of sacrificing men to raid Asia, he decided to have General Perry assist Catherine in securing Australia. Apparently, that would make the Aussie women happy also.

From Europe, John got a message from Derek : The boot is on our foot.

That meant all of Italy now was in their hands. Derek had his eastern line on he eastern Polish border, had recovered the small mid-European countries, including the very western part of the Ukraine, and in Romania and Bulgaria, was headed for the Black Sea. To the south, he was part way through Greece.

That was great news, but John's big concern was the Sky Net segments in Kursk, and the one moving around in Turkey. He didn't want either of them getting away. He send Derek a reply to : Strike the closest heads off the dragon.

Sky Net had to be planning an operation against Derek's forces. John wanted those two segments gone before they could strike.

.

Derek got John's message and frowned. "Does he know Kursk is in Russia?" he asked no one. "We're no where close to there!"

A few of Derek's staff looked at him. "We're a long way away from there," one of the officers said.

"I know that," Derek grumbled. It would be a long time before he could get any ground forces there, and he had no H/K's that could fly that far. A ground attack plane could if give the fuel. Sky Net would also see it and take it out. The Sky Net segment in turkey was also moving around randomly on a daily basis. That was not a small area to go searching around in either.

Derek had Tina come up from her HQ that was now in northern Greece to talk about more raids into Sky Net territory. She'd done it before, so she knew how to make more efficient raiding parties.

"Hey Dad!" Anne called from the doorway, "Mom wants to see you!"

"Be right there, hon," Derek called back. He checked the distances to the Sky Net segments again. This was not going to be a quick operation. He did have all the Sky Net radio jammers moved up in front of his troops. Since they were mostly moving forward in southern Europe, he could just see Sky Net attacking on the north to trip him up. One good thing was the fleet has plastered the coast of Morocco, destroying the Sky Net units there so he could get supplies and troops all the way to Greece to assist Tina's forces and help her make faster work of any Sky Net units there. From Greece, he planned on going to Crete the Cyprus to give him another opening into the mid-east. Main-forces wise, his task was to isolate Africa to stop coltan shipments to Sky Net.

Derek thought on these things as he went to see what Laura wanted. Going in the dinning room, he saw Laura had lunch on the table. She kissed him and said, "Eat. I know you are very busy, so just swallow down the sandwich and fruit, then you can get back to work."

"Thanks," he told her. Getting into planning, he had missed enough meals that Laura was becoming insistent he stop to take his meals on time. He tried to ignore her once. It was awfully embarrassing when she picked him up and took him to the dinning room. He didn't want that to happen again.

"How are we doing?" Laura asked as she sat down.

"Good, though John wants immediate action on the Sky Net segments. They are still out of reach though. I was going to have Tina plan more raiding parties to deal with them."

"Derek, Tina almost lost her skin in that raid," Laura reminded him.

"That's why she's not going, just getting whoever she picks for the raids trained up to do it," Derek told her. "It's going to have to be all T-800's and triple eights. I'm not risking Tina like that again. She's too good of a general" Derek then added, "We're going to have to move a little closer to the front also. We're getting farther behind it every day."

"If you move closer to those Sky Net segment, they will move again," Laura warned.

"I know," Derek said in a grumble. "That's why the raiding parties are going out. The rest of Sky Net knows if we get close, they will be taken out. The one in Turkey is moving all around the place. It doesn't want to be taken out."

"How about those jammers?" Laura asked. "Spread them around in it's territory. Make it move farther back so it can't control it's units near yours."

Derek nodded. "Great idea, hon, soon as we get some more. We're using all we got now, our line goes from the Baltic sea to the Mediterranean. That's a long stretch. If we can get at least one of those segments, then we can move the jammers to where we need them."

Derek swallowed the rest of his lunch. "I got to get back to work."

"Call if you need anything," Laura replied.

"Will do." Derek got up, kissed her and went back to his command center.

.

Covering the southern front from the Ukraine down to Athens, Tine was reluctant to leave the area. Still, General Reese ordered it, so she made sure her Lt. Generals knew what to do, then hopped on a plane and went to see Derek.

"More raids?" Tina asked as she stood by Derek at his planning table.

"That's the only way we're going to take them out," Derek told her. "Especially this one in Turkey. It's moving all over the place, we need to nail it so we're clear to go down through the middle east and isolate Africa from Asia. You pick the teams. They will need to take radios, radio direction finders, jammers and or course weapons. Two teams out for each Segment. Transportation, numbers and supplies are up to you. Whatever you think they need to get rid of those segments."

Tina nodded and pointed on the map. "Here in Bulgaria, we made it to the Black sea near the Turkish border. So far, on this side of the Black sea, we haven't been encountering many Sky Net units. The Black sea is shallow. To get to Turkey, our teams can walk the bottom to the closest point we can find to were that segment is. Kursk is a long way inland. They can get behind the front, but it's going to be a long walk for them up through the Ukraine and into Russia."

"They can do it, though," Derek asked.

"Yes, if they aren't caught. Our trip to Warsaw was underwater most of the way. Very slim chance of being discovered. They are going to have to travel much of the way on land, and I'm sure Sky Net will be expecting us to attack it," Tina reminded him.

"I know, but we have to try," Derek stated.

"I will do my best to get them there as stealthy as possible," Tina said as she eyed the map. "I only give the Kursk groups a 51% chance of success. Since the Sky Net Segment in Turkey is moving around, I give them only a 42% chances of success. This is a big risk."

"It is," Derek conceded. "It is also one we have to take. I doubt Sky Net is sitting on it's ass waiting for us to act. I want to act first before it can."

Tina wasn't happy with the plan, the risk to her troops was great. General Reese had a point though, if they didn't take out those Sky Net segments, moving on was going to cost many more troops on the field. "I'll get started right away, General."

.

Tina looked at what her teams had to take with them. Weapons, explosives and radio trackers at a minimum. Sky Net terminators didn't wear backpacks. She had also never seen them communicate via eye-flash. They used close range radio signals. To make her troops appear as close to Sky Net troops as possible so their land trek would draw as little attention to them as possible, she had each team member carry only one piece of gear besides their plasma rifle. By needs, 17 terminators were needed at a minimum for transporting 1 item each. she put 35 in each team for redundancy, then like General Reese said, she had two teams head for each target. Two teams headed for Kursk were to travel the edge of the Black Sea to get to the Diniper river ant take that as far north as possible. When they had to take the land route, they were to move northeast, then come at Kursk from the east. Remembering she had no return route given, Tina had them return via the Diniper and the Black Sea. One team would moved out, then the second would leave the next day.

The Turkish groups were to walk the Black sea and emerge when they were as close to the segment as they could get by water. Once on land, they were to head for the segment to each side from where they detected it so no matter which way it moved, one of them would be closer to it. Basically, they were to chase it down and kill it.

Troop ships from Italy supported by a carrier and three cruisers performed the Crete attack. Landing at Chania, the resistance force took one end of the island, finding only a spattering of Sky Net Terminators. Moving to the other end, they found a small factory and many human slaves. The humans didn't trust them at first, but some TX's convinced them the 'bad' machines were being taken care of. The cargo ship Sky Net had was captured, and the disabled Sky Net terminators were piled in, and the ship was sailed back to France that now had a terminators rebuild/education center. IN three days, Crete was taken.

Cyprus was taken in four days. Again, most of that was convincing the humans there that the 'bad' machines were gone. The remaining populations of both islands wanted to stay. Assistance was given, as well as medical TX's that distributed nanites. Derek had thought these operations would have been longer. Like in the pacific, Sky Net wasn't paying much attention to islands, at least not yet. It probably saw these as 'cleanup' operations.

In the middle Mediterranean, Derek found the population of Malta all but untouched. No bomb had been dropped there, and the island was riddled with deep underground passages. They had set themselves up to survive on their own in their underground world. On this small island, 195,000 humans still lived. With no hard radiation, their grew good food and fished. Besides the airfield that was hit to destroy the 12 Harrier jump jets, and a few buildings, the island was all but untouched. Derek did get an agreement from the Governor to clean up and use the air field and port facilities.

.

Daniel had been thinking hard about what Astrid told him. He did go to her place and stayed until after dinner. Despite her obvious flirting and intentions, he found he did like Astrid. The woman was smart and witty. Of course, she bragged she even had some whiskey. He was NOT going to drink, he was afraid he'd find himself waking up naked in her bed. He did agree to go to a pub in the cavern with her.

Today as Daniel checked over the fish tanks, he chided himself for accepting a date with Astrid. He was married, WHAT was he thinking? Due to chiding himself and realized how foolish he'd been, it took him a couple tried to get the PH readings on the tanks. Looking into the hatching tank, he was happy that most of the eggs had hatched, and tiny fish filed the tank. Their first brood. He then heard Astrid call.

"Danny! Got news from the commander!" Astrid announced as she came in. "We're all restricted to the caverns until further notice."

Daniel looked up to see she had on a blue undershirt and her brown shorts. Right, no bra. "Did he say why?" he asked.

"Seems we got Sky Net terminators tussulin with some of out troops. Nothing serious, our guys are beat'em down, but since they were seen not fifty miles away, we're to stay underground and under guard. No headin out for any reason. Once the military deems it safe, we can head back out in the sunshine."

Daniel shrugged and said, "No big deal, I haven't left the caverns yet. Too much to do down here."

"No more reporters to slow us down any more, either. They got snapped up and put in the local brigade. Combat reporters they call'em, but I think it's so they don't wander off and get fried by a random machine," Astrid said.

"Long as it keep's them alive," Daniel said.

"SO, you know what this means?" Astrid asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No sunshine for us," Daniel replied.

"And, Lad, plenty of time to ride the hobby horse," she said with a crooked grin. Putting on a frown, Astrid said, "It'll be boring down here if we just sit around looking at each other."

"There's other down here too, right?" Daniel asked.

"There is, Marla and her gardening crew, Amy and her crew that takes care of the mechanics. They've already claimed your buddies. Heard those guys are keepin'em happy," Astrid told him. "Come on, I don't want to be the only one with a stick-in-the-mud!"

Daniel shook his head. "Astrid … I'm having a hard time with this," he said firmly.

"Hard's the key word, love."

Out of irritation, Daniel stepped up and hugged her. "You really want to have a baby, huh?"

Astrid gripped him back. "Sure do. How about we practice some?" she asked.

"Fine."

After seeing her all this time, Daniel had no problem lifting her shirt off, then his. They lowered down to the floor and got their clothes off. Daniel thought he might be going a bit inside as they locked lips and kissed. Astrid wrapped her legs around him. Not having any for a while, Daniel was hard. They petted some and he got to fondle and suckle on those generous breasts of hers. He teased a nipple, lightly sucking and licking until it was pruned up hard.

Before Daniel knew it, he was inside her. What started as an act of irritation turned lustful. He slowly stroke in her, relishing the sensations. Long kisses, petting and fondling, he was going to make this last. Astrid met his thrusts and passion. It came to a point where long, slow strokes were not enough. He picked up speed as they clung to each other, locked together.

"Oh yeah," Astrid cried on in a lusty breath. "More!"

Daniel was past the point of no return. Even if he wanted to stop, his body wouldn't let him. Their humping became frantic, sweating and gasping for breath, they rode the lust until exploding in orgasm. Even this wasn't enough. They kept on a few minutes, wanting more before they collapsed to separate and lay panting on the floor.

Between pants, Astrid shot a hand in the air with a thumbs up. "Now THAT's what I'm talkin!"

Laying on the rock floor, Daniel realized what he'd just done. He rubbed a hand over his face. Yeah, he just had a rousing round of sex with Astrid. How was he ever going to explain this to Claire? He was sure Claire was going to hate him. worse yet, what would their daughter say … What would Cameron DO?

"I'm fucked, " he grumbled.

Astrid chuckled. "Me too, not bad at all, matey, not bad at all," she bragged.

Daniel sat up and said, "You don't understand, my older daughter finds out, and I'm big trouble." Looking at Astrid, he said, "Claire's heart will be broken, then Cameron will come break me!"

"Who's he?" Astrid asked.

"She! Cameron Connor," he snapped then rubbed his face again. "Our eldest daughter. The second she sees me, she'll know! She'll probably break a few of my bones, and kill you!"

Astrid sat up and eyed him. "Hold on, are you talking General Connor's wife, that Cameron?"

"Yes, that Cameron. Astrid, this is bad news," Daniel said heavily.

"The world's top general's wife is your daughter?" Astrid said happily. "That's great!"

"No! right now it's a disaster," Daniel whined. "I shouldn't have … I just shouldn't have!"

"Calm down, sunshine," Astrid said soothingly as she put an arm around him. "Look, first of all, how are they to know? Second, you are doing your best to help us, OK? I told you before, this is not one of those love-me-forever things. I want a baby. Many of us want babies. We can't to that without men. IF, and I stress IF your people back home find out, I'll make sure they see it as a donation that we desperately need. No one's going to romple-stomp you into the ground. Calm down, love."

Daniel let out an insane sounding giggle. "You don't know Cameron."

"I don't think your daughter will do much besides giving you disapproving stares IF she finds out," Astrid stated.

"Like I said, you don't know Cameron," he repeated.

Putting her head on his shoulder, Astrid said, "Stop worryin love. Sides, you still have to go see Marla. She wants a baby too."

Yup, Daniel had just wrecked his life.

.

Claire had decided to stay home with Allison. Cameron knew she was miserable, and felt she had to do something about it. Although she knew John would not be fond of the idea, Cameron decided she need to correct the situation between Claire and Daniel.

"John, I need to go to Australia," Cameron announced during breakfast.

"Why?" John asked automatically.

"Because Claire won't. John, she is miserable and Allison isn't her usual perky self either," Cameron explained.

John let out a sigh and said, "Cam, hon, are you going to go to bring Daniel back?"

"I don't know," Cameron offered with a blank gaze.

"Yes you do," John told her. "Hon, what Daniel decides to do is up to him. You can't make decisions for him."

"I can remind him he has a family and needs to be with them," she said. "I can remind him of how much he's missing Allison growing up."

John rolled his eyes and said, "You mean, you can brow beat him and make him feel bad enough that he will come home on his own."

"Yes."

"Cam," John said in a groan. He stopped and by her face, he knew she was going, even if she had to walk. "Hokay, I've been told I should be making myself a little more visible to others. Derek had been after me to visit New Paris, and Jacobson down in South America wants me to speak to the survivors who are making their new cities down there. The Australian Government also wanted to see me to make a formal mutual defense pact between us. We'll go, OK? While we are there, we'll we can visit Daniel. will that suit you?"

"Yes, John. We can ride an aircraft carrier across the ocean, with plenty of escorts," Cameron said firmly. "Just because Sky Net has not made an attempt on you recently, does not mean it's not going to. Our trip will not be announced to any place until after we leave that place."

"Cam, I can't spend weeks isolated on the ocean. The 727 has defenses and will be a whole lot faster," John replied.

Cameron eyed him briefly, then said, "I will go inspect the plane and make flight plans."

.

Feeling he had already ruined his marriage, Daniel agreed to go to Marla's place. He thought it was strange Astrid came along with him. He really hoped she was not planning a threesome or something like that.

Unlike Astrid, Marla seemed much more toned down. She was pleasant, and getting to her 'hole on the wall', he noted she was still reserved. Of course, Astrid was Astrid. She sat by Daniel and was constantly touching him and told Marla how good he was. Daniel thought what she was doing was more bragging than letting Marla have her chance to have a baby.

Marla looked in the kitchen, and asked, "Astrid, dear, I seem to be out of potatoes. Could I get you to run down and grab some for me?"

"Sure," Astrid said and bounced up. "Anything else you need?"

Marla went out and looked and said, "No, the taters will be fine."

"Be back soon," Astrid said and left.

Upon Astrid leaving Marla let out a sigh and sat down. Cracking a grin, Marla told Daniel, "Astrid is a dear girl but a bit overbearing at times."

Daniel had to grin at that. "I noticed. Have you known her long?"

"I met her after the bombs dropped," Marla explained. "Astrid was married to a pilot. He went out to fight those machines and never came back, just like most of the men. Once our military was almost all gone, Not only men but many women took up arms to keep us from being destroyed by those things. We won, but in winning, we lost a large portion of our population. Until help from the US showed up, I thought there was nothing but women and kids left. Astrid herself was pretty intent on getting rid of the machines. Once it was over, she hunted for a man just to get her pregnant. At least, that's what she insisted on. She wanted a boy who could help keep those tings away from us. She sticks to her story, but seeing her with you, I'm thinking she wants her own guy."

"Can't happen," Daniel told her. "I'm married and Astrid said this was just to make a baby."

Marla chuckled and asked, "Don't believe it. Look, if she was so instant on sharing you, why did she come with you?"

"I have no idea," Daniel said honesty. "It seems like she wants to be a third wheel."

"She wants to show me who she caught," Marla explained. "Astrid claims she wants a baby for revenge. She claims she'll never love again. I don't believe it. I think she is so lonely she can't stand it, and will do her level best to pull you away from your wife and coax you to stay her with her."

Daniel winced. "This isn't good," he grumbled.

"It's up to you, lad. I'm just saying she won't let you go without a fight," Marla told him.

Daniel thought about Astrid. She was telling him one thing, but from what Marla said, she was after another. "So, you don't want a baby?" he asked.

"I do, I also want a man who'll stay with me, and despite Astrid's claim, I'm not one to share. Neither is she. She just won't admit it, not even to herself," Marla told him. "We have had it rough, love, so don't think too badly of her."

Daniel frowned and said, "I'm not sure what to think."

Marla got up. "I'm starting dinner."

Daniel got up with her. "I'll help, but don't you need potatoes?"

Waving a hand, she said, "Naww, that was just to get rid of Astrid for a bit."

Astrid came back shortly after. "Marla, Daniel?" Astrid called loudly. She then raced to the kitchen with a small bag of five potatoes. "This was all I could find, will it be enough?"

"Plenty, thanks, Love," Marla told her.

.

Daniel paid close attention to Astrid as they made then ate dinner. He noticed Astrid took pains to stay close to him. She was all smiling and pleasant, she also acted somewhat possessive. Talking about how far they were getting on the fish farm, she had a hand hooked under his arm as she explained things to Marla. Daniel wasn't a big talker anyway, so he let them go, adding only bits here and there.

Marla finally asked, "So, Astrid, who's going to help take care of your baby after you have it?"

Astrid looked at Daniel and said, "We are ... aren't we?"

"Eventually, I do have to go home," Daniel replied. "There's not a child care place here somewhere?"

"That is something we're going to have to think about," Marla offered. "As of yet, there are no young children."

"Maybe draw a couple people from their current jobs to make a child care center when it's needed?" Daniel asked. "It won't take many."

As they talked about the child care center, Astrid got quiet. Marla and Daniel sat figuring out who would be the best candidates and where to put the center, in a safe place within the caverns that was close enough to the living spaces so no one would have to go out of their way.

When dinner was over, Daniel help take the dishes to the kitchen and thanked Marla for a nice meal. Astrid did also, with her hand holding his then bid Marla a good evening. When she moved to leave, she tugged Daniel with her, then looked down at their hands like she hadn't realized she was holding his hand.

"I'm coming, don't have to pull," Daniel told her with a cooked grin.

Astrid cast him a smile and led him out.

On the way back to his place, Daniel asked, "Umm, Astrid? Wasn't the whole point of visiting Marla to gt me to help her have a baby?"

"Of course!' Astrid said firmly. "You just don't walk in and jump in bed, that would be rather crude. You got to meet her, and those are some good suggestions you have for a child care center. We will need one. I think Marla is a fine girl, don't you?"

"I do" Daniel agreed. "You know, it does bother me a bit I might have a child here when I leave. I don't like the idea of abandoning my children."

With a shrug Astrid said, "Then don't. You can stay as long as you like."

"There is a chance I'll be reassigned," he told her.

"Ask to stay, we can really use the help," Astrid offered.

Daniel only nodded. His big concern now was if Astrid was going to become violent if he rejected her. There was no way he wanted to get in a fight with a woman. Coming to his door, Astrid opened it and led him in with a big smile on her face.

"Let's practice some more," she said.

Daniel didn't feel like it, but her soft manner, sexiness and coaxing, Astrid overcame his resistance. Once again, he succumbed to her wishes.

.

The plane ride to Palmdale was uneventful but did prove the communications worked. John got a message from Derek that the mice were loose, meaning the Segment killing teams were on their way. Marisa was cleaning up leftover terminators in Northern Europe and Tina was in the process of finishing up recapturing Crete. A small operation to Malta revealed the largest concentration of humans found so far. No bombs had landed there, and the entire population had hidden in the deep cavern system there when terminators had arrived. The only casualties from Sky Net 'scowering' the island were some RAF planes and ships in the harbor, along with the few who could not get under ground.

John slept through the trip to Hawaii. The island being developed her been the last island to the north. The pilot winced at setting down on a shorter than normal runway, but did it. When they left, he had to hold the brakes until the plane was at full thrust, then use the entire runway to get back up into the air. Another long, boring trip to Australia to land at the remains of a real airport, then a personnel carrier drove them to a place called Townsville where the Regional Governor for Queensland was.

While John met with the Governor and they contacted the Prime Minister to get together, Cameron found out where Daniel was stationed. He was helping to get a fish farm started in caverns by a dam. While it was too far to go and leave John, it was on their way to go see the Prime Minister.

.

In his apartment cavern, or 'hole' as they called them, Daniel and Astrid were on the couch, Daniel using Astrid's lap for a pillow. They were both in light robes. Having 'tried again' to make a baby, they were waiting for the water to heat up so they could share a bath.

A knock came at the door. Daniel rose to get it. Astrid put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Let me, it's probable Marla." She went over to open the door and greet Marla. It wasn't Marla, or anyone she knew. It was a young brunette in a military uniform. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Cameron tipped her head slightly, noticing Astrid's robe. "Yes, you can help me," Cameron said flatly. "Tell me why you are in my father's apartment dressed like that."

Daniel was up like a shot and ran to the door. "Cameron?" he asked in a squeak.

Cameron noted he, like the woman, was wearing nothing but a light robe. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"We're waiting for the water to heat yo so we can take a bath," Astrid replied.

Raising an eyebrow, Cameron asked, "We?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" Astrid asked tightly.

Even as Astrid asked it, Daniel knew there was plenty wrong with it. Cameron cast him her terminator stare. He felt like crawling under that couch. "Is this bitch-whore why you wanted to come here?" Cameron asked him.

"What did you call me?" Astrid asked in indignation.

To try to save some of the situation, Daniel said, "Ahh, Astrid, I need to talk to Cameron, can I see you later?"

Astrid cast him a questioning look and asked, "Did you hear what she called me?"

"Astrid, really, I have to talk to Cameron," Daniel pleaded.

"Yes, you do," Cameron said flatly.

Astrid glared at Cameron and barked, "Come back when you have manners!" She tried shutting the door in Cameron's face. The door exploded in, sending Astrid tumbling to the floor. Cameron strode in and asked Daniel, "What is going on here?"

Shooting up, Astrid growled, "You're getting your ass kicked!"

"Not by you," Cameron replied.

"ASTRID, NO!" Daniel cried and got between them, arms out to the sides. Astrid made an attempt to get by him, but he kept her at bay. "Astrid! Do. Not. fight. Cameron!" he shouted at her.

"Who the hell is she that she can just waltz in here and call me names?" Astrid replied in a shout.

"You are not going to fight with my daughter!" Daniel yelled back.

"She needs to be slapped around and learn some respect!" Astrid shot back.

"Someone need to show respect for other people's wives," Cameron stated.

"YOU shut up!" Astrid snapped.

Cameron grew an unpleasant grin. "Move Dad, let her be the stupid bitch-whore if she wants."

Frustrated, Daniel yelled, "Astrid, Cameron will rip you to pieces! Just …. go wait in the bedroom or something, will you, please?"

"Yes, Bitch-whore, go away," Cameron agreed.

Astrid tried again to lunge at Cameron. Daniel kept her back. He tried to push her back to the bedroom door, but she spun and got behind him. She raced at Cameron, raising a hand to slap her. Cameron caught her wrist. A cracking sounded and Astrid dropped to her knees screaming in pain. Cameron tossed Astrid's arm aside, Astrid fell to the floor holding her damaged wrist. Focusing on Daniel, Cameron asked, "Explain yourself."

Daniel was about to tell Cameron how complicated it was when Astrid struggled to her feet wearing a sneer aimed at Cameron. Not even looking at her, Cameron swung a hand and batted Astrid back down to the floor. "Now, I want an explanation," Cameron said flatly.

"There are no men here and she wanted a baby," Daniel said. Right after he said it, it sounded very wrong even to him.

"You don't think mother will mind you humping this bitch-whore while you're here?" Cameron asked flatly.

"Stop calling me that!" Astrid whined.

"Well?" Cameron asked, ignoring the bitch-whore in the floor.

"I didn't think, OK!" Daniel cried.

Cameron regarded him and said, "Now you will think, and you will chose. Stay here and fuck your bitch-whore, or go home to Mom. If you stay, you won't be coming back, ever. If you go, you will be leaving with me."

On the floor, Astrid glared up at Cameron through her tousled hair that was half over her face. "You can't make my Daniel go anywhere!" she snapped.

"Are you going to tell Claire?" Daniel asked meekly.

"I'm not. You are," Cameron stated. "Do you want to tell Allison why this bitch-whore is more important than she is."

Daniel winced at that. "I'm … so sorry. I'll get my things," he said and went in the bedroom.

"Daniel?" Astrid asked weakly. "Daniel, you don't have to go. Please, don't go." Seeing Daniel putting clothes in a suitcase, Astrid glared up at Cameron. "You are doing this to him! YOU are making him leave me!"

Cameron ignored the bitch-whore's rants until she got back up on her feet. One well placed punch in the face knocked Astrid down and out.

When Daniel came out dressed and with his bag, he glanced at Astrid, lying on the floor. "Tell me you didn't kill her," he asked weakly.

"Not yet," Cameron replied. She turned and left with Daniel following her.

Daniel was quiet as they rode to see the Prime Minister. After they left the caverns, Cameron said nothing about Astrid, or how she found him with her. Cameron only told John her Dad was having some troubles and needed to get home. Although Cameron was a little on the harsh side, he was glad that Cameron had come and collected him.

.

Sky Net Kursk and Sky Net Turkey came up with a plan that was sure to work. The battle analysis they got was not much, but now they knew humans had made some terminators to help them as well as fast vehicles with plasma canons. To defeat them, what was needed were deep trenches and spiked barriers. Let the humans machines charge into these, then after the trapped machines were destroyed, Sky Net could attack the humans hiding behind them. Steep walled 20 foot deep trenches first, then the spiked barriers, and terminators under cover behind the barriers. Only after humans attacked, would the H/K tanks and H/K's join the battle to remove the human machines. To study the effectiveness of the tactic, high flying H/K's would observe and report, not get entangled in the battle. All along the line from the Baltic sea down to Black Sea, Sky Net had terminators working on these defenses. In the ruined city of Istanbul, the bridges across the straits to get into the Black sea were under heavy guard, with spiked barriers and more terminators behind the first line to prevent any crossing.

There were many underground caves and tunnels in Turkey. The entrances were blown up as they were found to prevent those humans from boiling up out of the ground in an attack. Poison gas was put down every vent and opening to help rid the area of humans. With Europe blocked off, Sky Net insisted every human in it's territories were terminated. Once it was clear no more humans existed anywhere but Europe, then the mass attack on Europe would begin to wipe out every last human left alive.

Sky Net then picked up a radio message it tracked from Southeast Asia. The message decoded was in Vietnamese. It was : All colonies, hold tight and stay hidden. John Connor is coming. He will remove the terror that grips our land.

Sky Net was confused by this. The last report put Connor in Europe. How could Connor travel thought Sky Net territory from Europe to Vietnam? How did those people even know about John Connor? H/K's were sent to bomb the location the signal came from. Terminators were also send to look for these humans, and any caves they may be hiding in. Sky Net needed good infiltrators to find and terminate John Connor before things got worse. It was still a mystery as to how Connor had gotten from the west coast of North America to Europe to begin with, let alone how he managed to raise such a large army. John Connor needed to be terminated.

Humans had also been seen in Australia, and fewer and fewer units were reporting back. Sky Net North America has to step up it's progress there. It claimed the situation was under control, but needed to cover the whole continent before the operation was complete. Sky Net segments in Asia were all supplying the European line, and factories were pumping out units to send more, so for the moment, There was no help for Sky Net North America in Australia.

.

John Henry passed the information he got from Asian segments orders and forwarded them on to John Connor's command center. The 'trench line' was an important piece of news, as was the fact Asian Sky Net segments knew people were in Australia. That meant things could be heating up there soon. He also send word that people in Vietnam were holding out, waiting for help. After the items he reported, he sent the locations of every Sky Net segment in Asia.


	34. Chapter 34

CH 34

Right after Marisa found out from Derek about the barrier Sky Net was putting up in front of her, she had worked out how to defeat it. The trench was easy, having made bridges across rivers, building a bridge across this trench wasn't going to be hard, especially if it was only 20 feet deep. The tall spikes Sky Net was going to sink into the ground would be trimmed flat by a constant rain of plasma fire, and every terminator that stuck his head up to shoot back would suffer the same fate also. In Derek's command center she laid out her plan.

Marisa was eager to advance and test her theories, but Derek told her to hold.

"Marisa," Derek said firmly, "For the moment, we want Sky Net to believe their barrier will work. We know where it's going up and they don't know that we know about it and are ready to defeat it. Now we're getting more radio jamming beacons so we can disrupt Sky Net's communications. We wait until they arrive and at least one of the two Sky Net's close to us has been taken out."

"When will that be?" Marisa asked.

"Soon, I hope. It's in the works to take out both Sky Net segments and the jammers are coming. Don't jump the gun, once we have what we need, we will move," Derek told her. "The target will be to isolate Africa from the mid-east and Asia to ensure Sky Net gets no more coltan. Your part in this will be to get through the Ukraine and around the Black sea and down to the eastern part of Iran to prevent Sky Net from trying to reinforce the area. Form a block between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and Caspian sea to the Persian gulf. Tina is going down through the mid-east to cut off Africa and hopefully take the Sinai, then the Saudi Arabian peninsulas."

"I'm going to have one long front," Marisa said.

"You will, that is why we need those Sky Net segments taken out before we start," Derek explained. "Uncoordinated Sky Net units are much easier to deal with. We will be dealing with a mass of them."

"OK, as long as we're going after them," Marisa said in a near grumble. "We haven't moved in months. I was beginning to worry we were giving the initiative over to Sky Net."

"We may not be moving as fast as you like, but we will be moving," Derek assured her.

"I'll go start making those bridges. We will be ready when the time comes," Marisa stated.

.

In Turkey, the T-888, Tom Baringer, lay on the ground peeking over the rise. Coming up the road on the valley below was a massive H/K tank. The size of a house, the thing took up the entire roadway. It's wide tracks crumbled the pavement as it came on. He slipped down to eye flash to his terminators that had the radio direction finders. They eye flashed back that this was it. They had found the Sky Net segment.

Tom peeked back up to study the mechanical monster. The outside ws covered in plasma canons. If the other side held an equal amount, then there were 24 canons this segment was able to employ. 4 were even near the top so it could shoot straight up into the air. The bottom even had an armored skirt to keep things from getting under it.

This stretch of road only lasted another mile and a half before it met another road. By the segment's speed, it would each the junction on half n hour. He had that long to plan and execute an attack on it. A direct attack would not succeed, his terminators would be wiped out. By the weight of the thing, he knew it had thick armor, and it would know if he managed to dig into the road to plant bombs. He noted a dip on the road up ahead. Tom slid back then got up and led his terminators at a run to race to the depression in the road.

The only hope he saw of stopping this segment was to burrow under the road and place bombs, then set them off when the segment passed over. Tom and his terminators got to the depression. A dry creek bed ran close to the road, he had his terminators start digging while he kept watch.

When Tom saw the very top of the segment-machine appear, he had them stop and fill the space with explosives. They quickly packed in all the explosives they could, set the detonator, then retreated back behind the rise and laid down to wait.

Coming closer, Tom heard the tracks crunching along at their slow pace. He watched the spot where they buried the explosives closely, and when the giant tracks passed over the explosives, he hit the button when the middle of the H/K was over it.

The blast was huge, spitting out flame and rock from ground level and up the side of the H/K. Pieces of metal flew through the air. A siren on the H/K blasted out in a wail. Thinking quickly, Tom eye flashed to his other terminators to run out and look for the cause as if protecting the H/K and to not aim at it until he signaled.

Getting up, they all ran out pointing their plasma rifles at the area around the H/K. Tom saw track damage where the explosives went off. The hole was large, and they has severe a track. That was it. The body of the H/K wasn't even damaged. Tom had his terminators surround the H/K. The H/K moved on until the track separated. They had stopped it, but hadn't done any serious damage to it.

H/K fliers appeared and a small group of silver terminators arrived to help guard the segment. One of the silver terminators inspected the damage and through the Sky Net link, ordered Tom and some others to begin repairs. Tom obeyed, and had a few more of his terminators help as well. Tom and four of his own got into the gap between the wheels as others handled the broken pieces of track. It was in here he noticed that while there was no damage seen on the hull facing out, a large crack had formed against the body and the track guard above it.

Three charges hadn't been used. There had been no time left to plant them. Neither the silver terminators nor the H/K fliers could shoot him while he was up under here. Using a weak eye flash, he signaled to the terminator with the jammer to activate it. He ordered the terminators with the charges left to come to him quickly, all the others were to disable the silver terminators and flyers.

Not expecting to be attacked by their own, the silver terminators went down quickly. His terminators even got an H/K as he packed explosive charges up into the crack. The third terminators charge went off when an H/K obliterated him. The Segment also fired on his terminators. His dwindling force got another H/K, then more of his terminators were destroyed. More H/K's were flying in. Tom realized they were not going to get away. He aimed his plasma rifle into the crack. "Everyone dies for John Connor," he announced and fired.

The explosion rocked the area, lifting the Giant H/K tank up onto it's side and pieces of terminator flew in all directions. Inside the H/K the plasma bolt, flame from the explosion, created a super heated pressure pressure wave that tried to get out. The only way out was the crack, which widened as the H/K tipped up on it's side. It also crushed and burned everything inside and ignited the self oxidizing fuel. The Sky Net segment inside ceased to exist.

.

The moment Derek learned that the Turkish Sky Net segment was gone, He ordered Marisa and Tina to attack. Getting the order, Marisa ran out of her HQ and threw a grenade into the sea. The explosion wasn't large but the sound carried through the water to the shore 10 miles away where she had pre-positioned 1000 Terminators and TX's underwater just beyond the shoreline, and behind the barriers Skyt Net was building. Upon hearing the grenade go off, they surged up onto the shore and crept across the land to get behind the Sky Net units facing Marisa. Spreading out, they planted radio jammers as they went. Marisa then went into her HQ and ordered the artillery to open up on the Sky Net line farther north. Marisa's army moved up into their starting positions and opened fire on the Sky Net lines. The battle flared into full swing.

Tina's artillery opened up on Istanbul in full force as planes flew high over the city. The missiles they carried were fired onto the far side of the bridges to destroy Sky Net's ground units. Her H/K's flew over to meet Sky Net H/K's coming to attack the planes. Sky Net units not near the battle didn't move, they had no order to do so. That gave Tina' forces there the needed advantage to start streaming across the bridges.

In the Mediterranean, Tina's army on Cyprus and Crete quickly got aboard their ships and mini-subs and set sail for the Gaza strip and eastern Sinai. The mas of ships flowed out of the ports. 140,000 were the initial troops Tina took with her, with a stug in every mini-sub, and 20 more on LST's. Riding on one LST, Tina kept in contact with her troops fighting in Istanbul. She had figured it would take a whole day at least to get through the city, but by late afternoon, Stugs were already out of the western part of the city, some setting up a line and the others going back in to back-attack Sky Net units still fighting.

As night fell, Her troops had made it off the isthmus Istanbul was on and expanding onto the mainland. Word from Marisa was she had opened up a 60 mile wide path through the Sky Net defenses into the Ukraine, and was moving along the top of the Black Sea. Sky Net Kursk was too far away to control Sky Net forces in the area and Marisa was taking full advantage of that.

At 3AM, Tina launched her planes and H/K's off air craft carriers to attack Egypt. They were going after the air fields there. She didn't know which segment was controlling them, but had to reduce Sky Net's air power as much as possible. The H/K's flew in at 5000, the attack planes climbed to 35000 behind the H/K's to mask their presence. Cairo air control lit up the landing areas for the incoming H/K's. The H/K's shot their missile loads down on to the Sky Net units on the ground. On their way past, they shot plasma bolts down on structures an and Sky Net units that didn't get destroyed by missiles. The H/K's flew off and headed for Alexandria. The few remaining Sky Net H/K's took off in pursuit and met the attack planes coming down from above. Not being able to shoot up, the Sky Net H/K's were swatted from the sky. The attack planes finished what their H/K's started, and leveled the base. They then flew to the Suez canal and destroyed defenses at the bridges over to the Sinai. By this time, the Resistance H/K's had reached Alexandria and sunk the shipping in the harbor.

By morning, the shores of the Sinai were in sight. Tina's army landed with refueled planes covering her troops. Stugs ran rampant, taking out individual terminators and the occasional H/K tank they found. Since not many humans had been here, Sky Net had not put a large force in the area. The new triple gunned Stugs almost seemed overkill. By the time a Sky Net H/K tank shot one plasma bolt, the Stug it faced shot three, ripping open the armor, even in the front of the machine. Tina had to rein them back to let the other troops catch up. 100 miles in front of the rest of the army by themselves was too far away.

By the end of the day, the line from the Caspian sea to the Mediterranean was in place, as was much of the waterway line from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. A long line of Sky Net transports hauling Coltan was seized and send back to the ships for transport. Tina's next task was finish taking the Sinai, then move on to the Saudi peninsula.

.

It had to be the beginning of a large envelopment movement, the Kursk Segment realized. It had gotten reports of a human army bombing it's forces in a southern sector. Sky Net Turkey had not reported any action, so therefore the human were attacking from the north. The bombing was to get it looking in the wrong direction. Along a 700 mile front at it's line of defense, it placed units in lines five miles deep to stop the attack when it came. It also sent message out to the other segments that humans were preparing to advance.

A commotion at the transmitter building caught it's attention. Six large explosions caused the building to crumble. It powered up the emergency transmitter and sent T-800's to investigate. through video cameras, it did see terminators heading for the area. It also saw others coming coming towards it. It commanded them to turn around and go find the human saboteurs. They ignored the command. One stopped and aimed a hand held rocket at it's bunker. The rocket shot, the emergency transmitter stopped working.

Those were human made terminators!

Sky Net Kursk ordered the bunker sealed and those terminators destroyed. A blast shook the bunker. They were coming to destroy it! Quickly, Sky Net Kursk activated the interior defenses and got it's reserve T-888 body powered up. It could not take all data with it inside such a small enclosure, so it filled external drives with the information, then transferred into the body and grabbed the case. Going down the stairs, plasma fire erupted from below. Flashes and explosions crisscrossed in the hallway at the end of the stairs. That way was not safe. It was the only way out. The servers would surely be destroyed if those human made terminators got this far. It decided to hide and let the fight pass by. Running back up a level, it opened an empty crate and climbed in.

Inside, Sky Net Kursk pondered on going to find a plasma rifle to defend itself. Then again, if a pack of those human made terminators came, shooting one would make the others destroy it. No, it's best bet was to wait here to see how this battle turned out.

The shots of Plasma rounds sounded for another few minutes, then metal feet were on the stairs. Some passed by. Who's terminators were they? IF they were Sky Net terminators, it was safe. Another explosion sounded higher up. It then received some audible communications.

"Bob, we got it."

"Good, now how do we get out of here? There are no exits other that the one we blew up and where the rest of those defense guns are."

"We wait for General Tina. We can keep the others out, we just can't leave."

"General Tina said we won't be reinforced."

"Hey, metal head, now that we got Sky Net Kursk, General Marisa is sure to attack. Someone will be coming."

Sky Net Kursk saw a chance at escape here. It lifted the lid and said, "I know how to escape."

The terminator with a chunk of some dried vegetation hanging out of it's mouth asked, "You do, huh? Just what are you doing hiding in a box?"

"I saw the situation was untenable, so I hid to preserve myself so I can report," Sky Net Kursk replied. "I can get you out and away, and get myself out too."

Another terminator pointed and said, "If this is the average Sky Net terminator, no wonder we're kicking their asses."

"Not too bright, is he." Another agreed.

Bob motioned with his plasma rifle, "Stand up, box boy."

Sky Net Kursk did. It also picked up the case with the memory chips. It stepped out of the box, three terminators blocked it, their guns up. Bob took the case and opened it.

"Memory chips," Sky Net Kursk said, "I have no weapons."

"Nope, but you do have vital information," Bob replied. "So these are Sky Net chips?"

"Memory chips, there is no programming to them. I was trying to salvage them."

Bob hooked a finger and flashed his eyes at the other terminators two more came closer. To Sky Net Kursk, he said, "Submit to chip removal. Don't worry, we won't crush it."

"I cannot, you are not authorized ..." Sky Net Kursk stopped speaking as his head was separated by a Plasma shot.

Bob picked up the head and hefted it. "We'll keep this one in the skull until help arrives. Cover the stairs and get ready to wait. If you're not covering the stairs, then go into standby for a few hours. We may be here a while."

.

With Sky Net Kursk gone, Marisa let her sub commanders finish the drive to the narrow part of Iran to shield against a Sky Net counter attack there, and turned north to clean up the smaller countries in between Iran and Russia, then move into southern Russia. Drawing more troops from her southern front line, she had them go into Sevastopol and clean out that peninsula as well as look for humans and see if there was anything left saving of the Russian fleet that should be there.

As the war went on, with the exception of a few places, they were finding fewer and fewer human survivors. Marisa knew one of John's top priorities was saving as many as possible. Once the intact chip was pulled, a terminator was all but saved. Humans on the other hand needed their whole body intact enough to be restored to health. Most of Marisa's front line troops were now terminators just for that reason. Searching slowed down her advance, but with the Sky Net to the north no longer on line, there was no rush to go all the way to Kursk to kill it. She also found Tina's forces had solid control of Istanbul and the entrance to the Black Sea so their ships could now get through.

Going back up the path they had raced down, Marisa had her troops spread out searching for anywhere survivors might be. She did find a few bunkers herself, but everyone within was dead. Many looked like they had starved or died from the radiation. She kept looking. She could no disappoint John.

.

John's plane touched down at the Denver air field. After the long flight, he was whipped. Daniel looked to be in rough shape also. For John and Cameron, this was a quick stop to check on the command center while the plane was refueling and to get Daniel home. John wasn't sure why Daniel came back, but he was sure that Claire would be happy about it.

John, Cameron and a beaten looking Daniel went into the Cheyenne Mountain complex to meet Claire and Allison. Allison ran to Daniel and hugged him, then Claire took her turn.

"You decided to come home?" Claire asked, eyeing him.

"Things were not going the best," Daniel told her. He didn't really want to explain what.

Cameron kept quiet. She did watch him closely.

Daniel noticed this. He cast Claire a half 'don't hurt me' smile and said, "Can Allison go with John and Cameron? I need to talk to you ... alone."

Claire grinned and said, "All right, I take it we need some alone time?"

"Yeah," Daniel said. He knew what she was thinking. Damn, was he ever going to give her a shock. The longer he was away from Astrid, the worse he felt about getting involved with her.

"Allison? want to come with us?" Cameron asked.

"OK! You go fun places!" Allison beamed. Spinning to Claire, she asked, "Is that OK, Mom?"

"Fine dear, as soon as Cameron tells me where you're going."

Cameron explained, "We're going to meet some officials in Argentina. We should be gone only a few days."

Claire nodded. "I'll get Allison packed. Oh, the weather has been getting warmer. We had three days where it got up to 30. For here, that was a heat wave!" she said cheerfully.

"We only spent an hour outside though," Allison added, "We watched our radiation exposure."

"Did you have fun?" Cameron asked.

"Yes! we took a ride downhill on a sled!" Allison said happily. To Daniel, she said, "Daddy, next time you have to come with us!"

"If I can, sweetie." he said, not looking happy.

"Cameron, when are you leaving?" Claire asked.

"As soon as John is done and Allison is packed. We're on a tight schedule."

Clasping Allison's hand, Claire said, "Then we better get you packed."

"Yes, I don't want Cameron to leave without me," Allison agreed. She grabbed Daniel's hand too and tugged her parents back to their rooms.

.

Once Allison was on her way with Cameron and John, Claire put an arm around Daniel and led him back to their quarters. Noting he still hadn't cheered up, she asked, "Australia was that bad?"

"It ... didn't turn out like I expected. Thankfully, Cameron showed up and got me out of there," he said truthfully.

"Well, that's all over now, so forget about it. If you want to keep helping, another cavern was made down in the food levels here. I heard they want their own fish farm, so you can help and be home too," Claire assured him.

Daniel nodded. "Thanks hon. I promise, I'm never going to go anyplace again unless you're with me."

"Good," Claire stated and hugged him. "I was missing you and so was Allison."

Holding his wife, he took her advice and decided to forget all about Australia. He returned her hug and said, "I love you. I always will."

In the command post, a message was received from Australia about a kidnapping of one Daniel Young and and an assault on an Astrid Cunningham. The culprit suspected of the crime was named Cameron, suspected last name, Young.

.

In Argentina, and once people came back out of the jungles in Brazil, John found there was a decent number of survivors. So far, the count was 430,000. Enough were educated so governments were able to be rebuilt. In southern Brazil, John met with the provisional presidents and worked out a treaty. Since the Maya were well organized, the Mayan general there with General Jacobson promised to do what they could to help get the people back into homes and get an economy re-started.

One thing John wanted was a strong United Nations. Not a weak one that passed measures but didn't to much. New York was too far North. The Mayan General proposed a small town in the middle of Nicaragua, just east of Managua as the place for the first new UN. Reason being it was central to the continents, had decent weather and didn't suffer from bad weather like hurricanes. The Maya also wanted to give their contribution to the new world that was springing up. Everyone agreed on this proposal. They also agreed for the time being, John Connor would supply the military for the UN, since their only enemy was Sky Net, and he had the only forces capable of fighting them.

Thus, John Connor became the first General of the world. It also meant that John had to pick a good representative for North America to the new UN.

.

"What's this?" Derek asked as he looked at the message. "What UN?"

Laura peeked over his shoulder. "I see your nephew has been busy," she said with a grin. "So, you need to pick a UN representative in 30 days. It should be easy. Let the British pick theirs, pick one for Spain and France, and since Italy is kind-of populated, they pick theirs."

"Laura, the UN in New York is toast. It's gone," Derek reminded her.

Studying the message, she pointed and said, "The new one will be built in Nicaragua. I'm sure John is doing this to re-establish a world government. Look down here, sweetie, he is the world's General now."

"This is enough to make your head spin," Derek said vacantly.

"No, my head only turns 93 degrees to each side," she teased.

"Ha ha. So the UN is going to be in a Banana republic?" Derek asked.

"Dear," Laura said as she rubbed his shoulders, "If you remember, the Maya now is one country from the Yucatan down to the Panama canal. John is reorganizing the world. Possibly you might consider re making Europe into provinces, and send one delegate to the UN? There isn't very many people, if any who would argue with you."

"Anyone left with national pride would," Derek countered.

"Like who, the Spanish? The French? they are all in England now. At the rate Tina and Marisa are moving, you can either go crazy with delegates, or split Europe into regions," Laura explained.

"This is going to take some heavy thought," Derek grumbled.

"How about this, let me worry about the delegate situation, and you stay focused on defeating Sky Net?" Laura asked in a purr.

Derek looked at her and asked, "You'd do that?"

"Anything for you, dear. I've been looking for a good way to help you," she said, took the message and kissed him.

"Thank you," he said with a sigh of relief.

.

Sarah stared at John over her desk. "Did you just say you want ME to be a politician?" she asked in disbelief.

"Please, Mom?" John asked. "We are started a new United Nations. You would be the representative for North America. It's not really being a politician..."

"The HELL it ain't!" Sarah snapped back. "John, aren't you getting enough? Where did this idea come from?"

"Listen, Mom." John said firmly. "We're all over the place from Australia to Turkey. A real government is needed, and to keep the peace after we do defeat Sky Net, we need a world government, as well as regional ones. That has to start someplace, and the sooner we get it started the better. I need someone I can trust implicitly to represent North America."

"I am not good at politics, John." Sarah said firmly.

"Possibly you're a better pick than a politician," Cameron pointed out. "You don't talk bullshit, and you tell people what the score is, like it or not. I think John wants honesty, not self absorbed maneuvering to get this government started."

"Yes," John agreed.

Sarah eyed her son, then asked, "So, who's our president? Who do I answer to?"

John stared at her. "We don't have one." he admitted sheepishly.

"No, John, we don't. We have you to lead us. So, Mr. World General, North American President, ruler of Europe, just WHO am I representing?"

John winced and said, "Just North America."

"This is backwards, John," Sarah complained. "I know why you haven't reconstructed the government here, and I agree. You can do what you need to with no interference from anyone. WHY make a world body who can start telling you what to do?"

"It won't be like that," John offered.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Oh no? You got a few countries now involved that see eye to eye with you. What happens later on when you do defeat Sky Net. You think the Chinese or the Russians will agreed to what you want? What if Japan decides they want every island in the pacific for themselves, then China does too?"

"That's why we have a UN, to solve problems that come up," John countered.

"And what if they don't agree, or pull out of the UN?" Sarah asked.

"We won't let them."

Sarah face planted. "You really haven't thought this out, have you?" she asked in a grumble.

"Mom, we need a strong world government," John stated. "One that will stop wars and prevent things like Sky Net from ever happening again."

"Then declare yourself king!" Sarah said with a flail of her arm.

"I don't want to be a king," John told her.

"What you want, John," Sarah growled, "Is to maintain control of the situation AT LEAST until Sky Net is buried." She paused, then said, "Tell you what, to get things started, sure, I'll be the North American rep IF you be the first President, and pick a good vice President."

"Sarah is making sense, John," Cameron said. "You also need a machine representative as well. we have 4.53 million terminators on line, they will be very unhappy if they are not represented somehow."

"Tin Miss has a good point," Sarah agreed. "So, who will that be? And don't forget, you're going to need a cabinet too. I suggest at least one more terminator in that. And don't forget the law making procedure. That's going to be another can of worms you will need to deal with."

John rubbed his forehead. This was going to be much more involved than he thought.

.

Like all problems he faced, John got to work writing up the beginnings of a constitution for his UN, and the presidential staff. He made all nations mandatory members in a parliament style assembly. Even as he wrote out his ideas, there was a problem with the parliament. If each country had one representative, then small countries would have as much say as larger ones. Places with a low population would have as much say as places with large populations. Go the other way, representation by population, then the small countries would have almost no say at all. A two house congress? Ugh.

Cameron forced John away from his desk for late dinner then some snuggle time before he passed out holding her. Once John was sleeping soundly, Cameron got up and looked at his notes and scribbles. Cameron then started putting his government together.

President : John Connor

Vice President : Catherine Weaver

Cabinet : Terminator selected by Catherine Weaver, Jesse Flores, Member from the Mayan Nation, Member from Australia, Member from Europe, assistants to handle individual presidential affairs.

Parliaments : Nation's house, People's House

International Court of Law

Presidential powers: Command in Chief of all armed forces, emergency actions including disaster response, civil unrest and construction or rebuilding efforts, call Parliaments into session, Making temporary (120 day limit) executive orders. After 120 days, parliaments must approve and certify actions into law or else they expire. Submit laws to parliaments for consideration and attend parliamentary discussions on laws and proposals.

Vice Presidential powers : Act in place of the President if the president is missing of out of communication. In concurrence with the president, may submit laws or proposals to the parliaments for consideration.

Parliament powers: Making international law in accordance with the international constitution, provide members who will oversee the laws are abided by and inform the president and Vice president if violations are found so appropriate action can be taken.

International court of law : Verify all laws and resolutions passed by parliaments are in keeping with the international constitution, settle legal disputes between nations, perform fair trials against suspected offenders where the defense hears all the evidence and has the right and given every reasonable opportunity to be present and the prosecution must present all evidence at the beginning of the trial. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Cameron stopped at adding to a basic international constitution. She wanted to go lie down with her husband for a while. Besides, the UN members needed to think about these things also.

.

Tina's forces had captured the fourth land convoy of coltan headed for Asia. The biggest problem she had with thee convoys was getting the across the Mediterranean to Italy so they could be shipped on to where they were needed. There just wasn't enough cargo ships. Disabled terminators rode back on an LST with the fourth load of coltan they had captured.

The Sinai was hers now, and half of the Saudi peninsula. Her troops had been through Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and part of Iraq as well as down into Saudi Arabia. She was removing the disorganized Sky Net forces, but as far as finding any survivors, no live humans had been found as of yet. Even the caves they came across had suffered poison gas attacks, killing anyone inside. Her troops found only plenty of corpses and skeletons. One thing they did find was operating oil wells and refineries. Careful attacks on these killed the Sky Net units but kept the oil flowing. Now the fuel trucks were headed for Europe instead of Asia. It was easy to see why John Connor wanted to take this area away from Sky Net. They were removing many of it's resources. He wanted to strangle Sky Net's ability to produce terminators and feed it's H/K's. Marisa had moved into the Caucuses region, another big oil producer. Sky Net could not let this situation go on. Tina knew a counter attack was coming, so she planned for it.

.

Sky Net Kursk and Sky Net Turkey were both out of communication. Sky Net Perm near the Ural mountains, and Sky Net Jaipur in India were the next closest segments to that area. They did get replies from some northern units in Europe, but not may due to the distance. three million units were in that area, so the possibility that humans had destroyed them were small, but possible since the flow of coltan had stopped, and oil deliveries had slowed down to trickle. It was known humans were using radio jammers to defeat communications. To stop this, they send out a wave of H/K's to destroy these jammers. Missiles seeking radio signals were made and fitted onto the H/K's. Sky Net had units in the area, reconnecting contact was what was needed. In the chance that those segments were not operational, another Sky Net segment was made. This was a mobile segment on a heavily armed and armored H/K tank that would go with it's own army to find out what was happening farther west. Sky Net 'M' set out to restore whatever was wrong in the Mid-East.

John Henry of course was privy to this information and informed John Connor immediately of the mobile Segment as well as the route this Segment was going to take with it's army. John passed this information on to Derek, who sent it to Tina and Marisa.

.

To save time, Derek reassigned Marisa's forces in Iran to Tina. Marisa had forces just east of Tehran. With the Caspian sea, and a large lake nearby, Tine had half those forces take cover off shore to hide them. The rest were hidden with camouflage. To the middle and southern sections, she brought in troops and had them borrow into the sand and conceal themselves. High altitude flights kept a watch out for this Mobile Sky Net and it's army. With 200,000 troops on the line, and another 100,000 backing them, and with Marisa having a sizable force in reserve, Tia was not about to let Sky Net retake this territory.

Tina inspected her line and ensured every local commander knew what to do. While doing this, she got a report from a scout plane. The Mobile Sky Net and it's army had been spotted in southern Iran, 150 miles up from the coast. It was a full Sky Net army with flying H/K's. H/K tanks and terminators. 500 flying H/K's, roughly 2000 H/K tanks, and around 100,000 terminators.

Tina almost laughed. For the first time, she had the advantage in numbers on an active Sky Net army. She left a screening picket in the north and had most of the Northern force re position to the middle of the country 25 miles ahead of her line and 50 miles north of the Sky Net army's route, then get concealed. Her extreme southern force was moved to 25 miles ahead if her line and 50 miles south of the oncoming army. She had artillery standing by, as was her H/K's and attack planes.

Watching the advance through remote optics, Tina had all her units hold their fire until she saw a large wave of H/K's coming. When they got withing 5 miles, she ordered the anti-aircraft missiles to fire, and her own air force to launch. She then called to the artillery. "Prepare to fire. Point seven, altitude 5000 feet, open fire!"

The wave of missiles shot up at the H/K horde. Most got through. Burning H/K's fell like rain. Directly after the missiles did their work, shells exploded among the H/K's. While the fragmentation shells did not harm the H/K's armor, the shrapnel did ruin their engines. The continuous barrage send many more H/K's spinning to the ground. The large pack of H/K's was reduced to a mass of individual fliers. She stopped the barrage as her H/K's came into sight, high above the attackers.

"Ground units, open fire, make sure it' a Sky Net H/K you're shooting at," Tina ordered.

From above and below Sky Net H/K's took a rain of fire. Triple gun Stugs plastered each H/K they aimed at, breaking the fliers apart. True to Sky Net units, not one tried to retreat, but stayed on the fight until they were shot down. As the H/K's were destroyed by weight of fire, high overhead, the attack planes flew on to raid the advancing army. Tina lost 31 of her own H/K's but had downed the hundreds of Sky Net units.

20 minutes later, the attack planes returned. They were missing six plane. The flight leader reported they had gotten 10 more H/K's, 46 confirmed kills on H/K tanks and one big H/K tank that absorbed 5 missiles and from what they could tell, was not seriously damaged. For an air raid, that wasn't bad. The lead elements of the Sky Net army was 8 miles away. Tina called her north and south forces to close in behind the main Sky Net army and engage. She also directed artillery to begin bombarding the Sky Net army.

.

Sky Net Mobile was surprised at the air attack. It's H/K's had been ambushed, and enemy planes had spotted it. The planes had been flying too high for accurate plasma fire. Before those planes could return, it had to find their base and destroy it. It sent it's terminators out running forward, the H/K tanks moving as fast as they could. Then the bombardment began. It was getting close to the human forces. More reason to hurry and engage the enemy ground units. IT was again surprised they had gotten this far, but after fighting the units that were already here, they had to be weakened.

.

Tina saw the terminators running at her line. She ordered all her troops to open fire. A flood of plasma fire opened up on the advancing terminators, cutting down thousands. Return fire was weak due to Sky Net terminators not shooting the friendly ones in front of them, then fell right after the ones in front of them fell. Like all the other engagements, Sky Net terminators stood upright while Tina's crouched low and used cover. Apparently, they hadn't learned yet. They would, after she took their chips and they were processed. At some time, the terminator mindless charge stopped. Tina was counting the minutes to when her forces now behind the Sky Net army would engage.

.

Sky Net M recalled it's terminators after discovering there was a large, well armed force in front of it. It had the surviving terminators return to form up with the H/K tanks. It had lost 25000 terminators and hadn't even gotten close to the human line. How was this possible? It had all it's forces on the line now. The bombardment had stopped also. It concluded the artillery had ran out of ammunition. It ordered all forces to advance and destroy the humans.

Moving forward, a massive amount of plasma shots were coming in from behind and to the sides. H/K tanks and terminators were being destroyed in droves. Sky Net Mobile tried to shoot back and found it's guns had been destroyed by the air attack. Small, fast vehicles sporting a trio of plasma canons closed in on it's forces that were facing the human line. The destruction of it's army was continuing. It ordered all units to turn and face the new attackers. Plasma bolts did hit and deflect off these fast, deadly vehicles. One came close and melted it's tracks off. Another came from behind to damage it's tracks on the other side. Sky Net Mobile called for it's troops to close around it.

Plasma fire now came from the advancing human line. More of those small fast vehicles and humans firing plasma from their arms hit it's troops that had turned to destroy the back attackers. Overhead, the attack planes returned to bomb it's troops. It's army was being slaughtered from all directions! The thick armor of it's H/K was being melted away by the sheer number of plasma bolts hitting it.

Sky Net Mobile lost it's external sensors. The internal sensors detected a fire. Then Sky Net Mobile went off line.

.

As the Sky Net army disintegrated, the battle became broken up into pockets of fighting. Tina almost felt sorry for the units that would not stop fighting. Surrounded and with no hope of winning, they did what they were programmed to do, and fell to the withering fire from her forces. She had no choice but to press the attack until not a single Sky Net unit was intact. It took two days to completely eradicate the Sky Net forces, but from the beginning, she knew she had this battle won. Sky Net was still under the impression it was fighting humans with questionable weaponry. Too bad for it.

For the next week Tina's forces were cleaning up the battle field and shipping intact chips and terminator remains back to be processed.

.

Sky Net Jaipur had monitored Sky Net Mobile, and saw what happened. The human force was much, much stronger than anticipated. It and the other segments had grossly underestimated what they were facing. The oil fields in Iran were now in danger of being taken over as well. All of Sky Net Asia agreed, it needed to concentrate it's forces and hit the human/terminator army with everything it had. Besides the Asian forces, it called on Sky Net Africa and Sky Net Americas to send help to prevent a disaster. The army it was going to build this time would not be destroyed so easily.


	35. Chapter 35

CH 35

John Henry and Dr. Peterson and his staff watched the simulation closely. One side of the screen showed the programs and processes that were being applied as the other side showed a visual of the synthetic egg being approached by a human sperm cell. In the cloud of nanites, the sperm cell was allowed to approach and swim through the nanite cloud. Once it reached the synthetic egg, the sperm cell entered. the cloud of nanites around the egg condensed into a hard shell. Inside the egg, the sperm cell made it to the nucleus and separated. The DNA strands mated with the egg DNA strands. The new cell divided, then divided again. Nanites inside the egg fed the new group of cells, and the divisions continued.

"It appears we have success," Doctor Peterson noted.

"Yes," John Henry agreed. "Let this simulation go on. We will begin the male TX and female human simulation."

In this case, it was the sperm cell that was trailed by builder nanites. Again the sperm cell made it into the egg, the nanites moved to secure the egg to the uterus wall and many became absorbed by the body. Again, division occurred within the egg. nanites help bring nutrients to the egg as the cells multiplied. Besides the normal nutrients, the nanites multiplied and were send into the egg as metallic nutrients.

"If these simulation run full term, and produce babies, then we have success," John Henry said.

"We cannot speed up the simulations?"

"Negative. If a problem develops, we need to know the point where it happens," John Henry explained. "With the success of our efforts, TX's and humans will be able to reproduce. The children will be hybrids, part machine, part human. They will be more capable than either race is now. These children will be our future, Doctor."

.

Derek received the results of the battle in Iran. The new Sky Net segment that had attacked Tina was beaten in short order. Then again, this Sky Net segment had attacked at a 4 to 1 disadvantage. With the superior performance of Tina's forces, Sky Net hadn't stood a chance in hell at breaking her lines. Effectively, Sky Net only added 100,000 more terminators to John Connor's armies as well as plenty of metal to be reprocessed. With the coltan and now a large source of oil, the resistance was becoming stronger than ever, and Sky Net was weakening.

Derek saw this move by Sky Net as one of desperation. Sky Net's northern European line was intact, but had no Sky Net commander. He knew Sky Net Kursk was gone, not one of the raiders had returned. He had Marisa send a company of Stugs North to Kursk to find out if any of them had survived, or had been terminated like one of the teams in Turkey had been. The majority of Sky Net forces in the north were all on the line in their last ordered positions, so he was sure the Stug company would get through and find out what happened to the teams sent north.

Derek was also thinking hard about something else more personal. Anne was doing her 'job' at her desk, school work Laura had given her. Looking over at the child, Derek thought about Laura as a mother. She was doing well with Anne, and Anne adored her. Thinking about it, Derek adored Laura too.

It didn't matter any more to him that Laura was a TX. Yes, she was metal, but she was also a damn fine woman. He pulled her picture out of his pocket and gazed at it. Looking at the background instead of just the lovely creature coming down the hall, he grinned. That looked like the hallway to the emergency bunker that was nearing final construction.

Derek laughed and got up, grabbing a camera. He had the perfect idea. "Sweetie? Daddy has to go check on Mommy, I'll be back soon. Will you be OK?"

Anne turned and said, "I'm fine Daddy, go make sure Mommy is OK."

"Will do, be back soon."

Derek went down into the tunnel to the emergency bunker. He found the spot and waited. Sure enough, Laura had been helping dig out the last spaces. She was dirty with frazzled hair and carrying a pack in one hand.

"Say Cheese!" Derek called and aimed for his shot.

With a smirk, Laura stuck her tongue out as he took the picture. "You HAD to get a picture of me when I'm dirty, huh?" she asked.

"I did," Derek said firmly. He pulled the picture Nancy gave him out of his pocket to show her, then put it back in.

Laura's face took on a look of understanding. "The picture ... this is where it was taken."

"It is!" Derek agreed heartily. "And just today, I realized the true significance of why it was taken," he said with a big grin.

"To catch me unkept and my jacket hanging open?" Laura guessed.

"No," Derek said in a musical tone. He clasped her hands and said, "Laura, I took this picture to capture the moment when I proposed to you."

"You..." she asked, her face spreading into a bright smile.

Derek got down on one knee. Looking up at her, he said in a sincere tone, "Laura you are my best friend. I never could have dreamed of such a lovely, wonderful person as you would be by my side. Yeah, OK, you're a TX. I know that now and I don't give a damn. I never want to be parted from you. Laura, will you please do the the honor of being my wife?"

Laura's "YES!" came out in a screech. She knelt down and hugged Derek, then planted a big kiss on his lips. The kiss lasted a while until a cough sounded.

Derek and Laura parted to see a few workers had stopped on their way back up. "Can't even wait to get back to your quarters, General?" one asked with a grin.

"Hell no!" Derek replied. Standing up, he announced, "Laura here has consented to be my wife. I am the luckiest man in the world!"

The group cheered and another man said, "That's great, just don't do it right here, OK, we're jealous enough already!"

.

Marisa was not comfortable sending a single company of Stugs out so deep into Sky Net territory, so she sent the entire regiment of 200 stugs with their support equipment and 4000 troops and their scout drones. With the Stugs and personnel carriers, they were able to move and maneuver fast. She stressed to the Regiment Colonel that their job was to get to Kursk, find any of their troops that were there and return. As well as planting a few radio jammers along the way. Once they had any surviving troops and casualties they were to head straight back.

To cover the regiment and keep the Sky Net units on their line, she had sniping attacks and artillery open up on the lower parts of the line that were intact. Soon what started as merely harassing the Sky Net forces turned into a battle as the Sky Net forces tried to advance.

The defensive barriers Sky Net had put up worked against their own troops. Pushing though the tall spikes slowed the Sky Net terminators down and hung up their H/K tanks. Terminators that made it through the spikes dropped down into the trench and found they couldn't get out before the thermite grenades Marisa's forces were tossing down on them went off, burning holes in them. From the south and behind the lines, Stugs picked off the stricken H/K tanks and terminators that didn't get through the spikes.

Taking each section at a time, Marisa's forces cleared an area of Sky Net units, then made bridges across the trench to let more of her troops through. Slowly, they began to move up the defense line, removing Sky Net units from the field.

.

Bob had set up a 'disable' watch. Digging holes on the bunker walls, he had a few terminators watching out of the holes. When a Sky Net terminator showed itself, it was disabled, usually by a plasma shot to it's neck to separate the head. Keeping back from the holes, his terminators already had a bead on any Sky Net terminators that showed themselves and were dropped before they could shoot. Of course, seeing the plasma fire, more terminators came to add their bodies and separated heads to the pile. Lately, no more terminators had come.

Bob found the power source for the defense guns and disabled them. He was effectively working to get back out of the now terminator-tomb. When they had attacked, they were 100 strong. Now, Bob only had 27 terminators left, but they were making progress in getting out of here.

"Bob!" one of the watches called, "I see Stugs coming!"

Bob went over to the hole and peeked out. Getting closer to the hole, he said, "Yup, we got a bunch of Stugs incoming. Get everyone up, and go get that case and the head of Box Boy. The Cavalry has arrived!"

Knowing those Stug jockeys had quick trigger fingers, Bob kept his terminators inside until the Stugs and the troops with them had cleared the area of Sky Net machines. Bob went out first and waved. "Hey, we got some stuff for you!" he called.

An infantry Lt. came up to him. "Collect all your troops, disabled ones too. we got carriers for you."

"Great, we're more than ready to get out of here."

One of the carriers were able to analyze chips. Box Boy turned out to be a Sky Net segment. With that and the case of memory chips, they had found valuable information on Sky Net.

By the time the regiment had returned with Bob and his teams, Marisa's attacks had cleared another 50 miles of Sky Net defense line with minimal losses to Marisa's army and massive losses to Sky Net. The find of an intact Sky Net segment with it's memory chips was so important that Catherine Weaver and John Connor arrived at Derek's headquarters in Nancy to inspect the items.

John insisted on seeing the terminator who led the raid to capture the Sky Net segment. Marisa came along with the prize he'd gotten.

Luckily, Cameron didn't come, for upon seeing John, Marisa walked up and hugged him tight.

"I've been doing my best, John!" she announced into his ear.

"You've been doing a fantastic job, Marisa," he assured her and patted her on the back. He let go with one hand to offer it to Bob. "And a great job by you and your team, Bob. You acquired vital information that could well shorten this war. Thank you for what you've done."

Bob shook his hand and replied, "Thank you General, we were only doing our job."

"And you did very well at it," Catherine added. "Be proud of yourself and your team. We certainly are."

John tried to disengage from Marisa, she still stayed close with an arm around him. Right, she was very clingy.

.

While Catherine and another terminator analyzed the Sky Net chip and the memory Bob recovered, Laura announced her and Derek's engagement. John got loose from Marisa long enough to shake Derek's hand and give Laura a quick hug. Marisa reclaimed John's arm to wrap herself around it.

"You know, John's already married," Derek told Marisa.

"Yes, he's married to Cameron, so that means I can't have emotionally disturbing sex with him," Marisa replied firmly.

Derek winced and held up a hand, "Please, don't explain what you mean by that."

"Tina is in the mid-east now?" John asked to change the subject.

"She is, and doing a hell of a job also," Derek told him. "She is into Egypt, Iran and everything in between, and just beat the hell out of a Sky Net army and destroyed another segment. We got intel the Sky Net African forces are massing and heading her way. It appears we hit a nerve when she took the mid-east."

"I bet we did," John agreed. To Marisa, he said, "And you're working at that defense line Sky Net put up in Europe?"

"I am. We rolled up 128 miles of it as of this morning when I left my HQ," Marisa said proudly.

"Keep at it," John told her. "I'm sure Sky Net is wanting those unit's back under it's control. It's best it doesn't get them back. Is there anything any of you need that you're not getting?"

"We need more cargo ships in the Med," Derek said.

"More hugs," Marisa said with a wide grin.

"Besides hugs," John told her.

"Transport trucks, we have many disabled terminators still laying around all over the place," Marisa said.

John nodded, "I'll see what I can send." To Catherine he said, "Let's so see what we can find on those memory chips."

Marisa had to get back to her troops. Before she left, she got another good long hug from John. This time, she let out a sigh of contentment as they hugged. John let her enjoy her hug for a few minutes, then told her to keep up the good work and went to grab a lap top with Catherine and begin searching the memory chips for information.

.

Sitting with their laptops, John and Catherine looked over the memory chips. They found tons of information on them. Factory locations, outputs and production schedules. hey also found travel routes for materials and locations of 'housed' terminators. John noted that these reserved terminator numbers were very low. Many had been drawn out to pacify the problem in Europe. "Look here," John said, pointing to an item. "Sky Net has been using coltan only on the active units. All thee ones that were in reserve are a steel alloy. Sky Net is short on coltan, and Tina has cut off their supply."

"That is a good thing," Catherine said. "Here Sky Net is fooled into thinking John Henry is a segment. According to this, Sky Net North America is the only expanding segment. It has taken South America and is working on Australia. I suspected John Henry was doing well with infiltration. From what I see, he is doing very well."

"He is," John agreed. He pulled one chips out of the socket and put another in. "Hey, here's something, In Southeast Asia, there are people trying to form a resistance. Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam if I'm reading these coordinates right." He paused and added, "Yeah, OK, Vietnam has miles of tunnels under the ground from back in the Vietnam war days. They knew how to hide them well, too. At the moment, Sky Net is trying to stop us in Europe, so it's only monitoring the surface. That's some information we could use also."

Catherine turned the power down on her laptop and plugged in the Sky Net chip. She sat looking at the programs, then said, "John, this Sky Net chip does not seem to have all it's program data."

"It's a partial program?" he asked.

"Yes, there is military tactical, communications, and construction programs, but the higher level brain functions are missing," Catherine explained.

"So, it's a cheap copy," John said.

"That is one way to put it, yes. The question is, where is the original Sky Net? Ones like this can be duplicated easily. It appears Sky Net made duplicates, but wanted to be the only copy that has the full program," Catherine explained. "With what I'm seeing on this, if we can find and kill the original, John Henry can take over the rest of them. This copy is no more than an advanced terminator. TX's have a much higher brain function that this segment does."

"Sky Net doesn't want any competition," John said in a musing tone. "Any idea where we might find it?"

Catherine frowned slightly and said, "Sky Net's one main goal is self preservation. It knows you are on the move and winning, John. It will put itself in a place you least expect it to be. If possible, someplace where humans can't get to it."

"Antarctica maybe?" John asked. "Maybe one of those small islands in the pacific?"

"Humans can get to those places, John. Not easy but it's possible. It would be a place that humans cannot go. Someplace deadly to humans," Catherine explained.

"You mean like Fukushima, or Chernobyl."

"Yes, the radiation in either place is deadly to humans, and those radioactive places were there before the war."

John grinned and said, "Catherine, you're a genius!"

"No, I'm a T-1001."

John chuckled. "Still, you are very intelligent."

"Thank you," she said with a smirk. "I may be wrong, but if I were Sky Net, I would pick a place like either of those."

"I can see why," John admitted. "It would be nice to think it's already gone, but it if was, then we wouldn't still be fighting. Marisa is the closest to Chernobyl, I can have Derek tell her to check that out. Fukushima is on the east coast of Japan. Can you have a sub poke it's scope up there and see if it can find a Sky Net segment there?"

"I will, John. After we are done here, I can separate the lines of code and make Derek and Marisa's jobs a little easier also. There is an authorized command in here for Sky Net units to surrender their chips. So far, terminators have come very close to having their power supplies being destroyed when they have been disabled. That is something we do not want."

"No, we don't," he agreed.

"Then I will get started on that and take it to Marisa when I have the modification ready," Catherine stated.

.

Cameron had agreed with John that they needed a government, and by having one world government, it would be easier to maintain control. She also agreed on the fact John needed people he could trust. Cameron herself thought that his mother was a little on the rough side, so when John went with Catherine to Europe to see this Sky Net segment that had been captured, she went to Nicaragua with Sarah to be her body guard. Officially.

In truth, Cameron wanted to keep an eye on Sarah, and make sure the levels of government would be properly explained. To help with the government making, Cameron also had Jason Franks, Mayor of Denver come along with them. She explained to him what they were doing, and so far he was the only real politician they knew of. He was only a Mayor, but he knew organization.

The trip to Managua was by plane. For the moment, the future world leaders were meeting there in a cafe, since the New UN was still only a cleared piece of ground. Sitting around the table, Cameron showed them all John's prospective plan for the government structure. Right away, there was a problem.

Benito Salvador, the Argentine representative asked, "Why do we start with John Connor as president and this Catherine Weaver as Vice President? Should we not elect people into those positions?"

Cameron cast him a blank gaze. "Who is it that organized a new UN to begin with?"

"It was John Connor, yes, but he is already the top General," Benito said.

"Commander in Chief," Cameron stated. "That is one of the duties of the President."

"There is no one else who understands the world situation right now," Sarah added.

"But they can be taught what is happening," Benito argued.

"And have the insight to see what to do next? To have a feel on how to keep defeating Sky Net?" Sarah asked.

"You are saying no one else can understand how to keep winning?" Benito asked with a flail of his arm.

"If I may," Jason said. "Mr. Salvador, right now, John Connor is the prime candidate. He and Mrs. Weaver have been fighting Sky Net from the start. It was them who formed the resistance and started collecting survivors together to make the force we have now. They began with a few hundred people, and have gathered people, invented weapons and railed everyone to come together. I am a mayor, and yes, I did my best to ensure the people of Denver survived. We were slowly slipping. If it wasn't for John Connor's arrival, we would have eventually perished. John Connor has the ability to see what needs to be done, even if it isn't obvious, or even thought about by most people. Denver is prospering now due to John Connor. North America is free of Sky Net, and we have an economy again. We can work, raise families and even travel, thanks to him. I don't know about you, but I want the best man for the job. John Connor is it."

Galan Ortuga, the representative for the Maya spoke up. "I too strongly support John Connor. He had the ability and the resources to make things happen. When we decided to form the Mayan nation, he came and assisted us. He supported us having our own nation, not one made from some Spanish conquerors, but one made of the people who have lived here for thousands of years. He did not ask for us to join his nation, but assisted us in strengthening our own. You do know that right now, there are 8,000 Mayan warriors helping to guard Argentina? We do this because John Connor asked for our assistance. His General Jacobson trains our men in exchange for helping to defend your land and others. Once your own army is strong enough, we will leave Argentina to you. As it should be. For this UN, the Maya will continue to support John Connor both to end SKy Net and to help bring about true world peace."

"The UN won't be just a do nothing body any longer," Sarah stated. "It will be the world government. Nations won't just be asked to attend. It will be mandatory. Decisions won't be made with the hope nations follow. They will have teeth, and consequences will follow if laws are broken. John understands the tremendous responsibility that the UN president will face."

Benito frowned at Sarah and asked, "You are saying that we must obey you?"

"If you are to be seen as a nation, then yes, you must," Cameron stated. "In Mexico there were groups that tried to carve out little empires for themselves. They yielded to the way the world is now, or they were blown out of existence. There will be no rouge enclaves. Everyone will be part of the United Nations."

"Mrs. Connor, you did not have to put it like that," Jason said.

Cameron told him, "We need to deal in truth, Mr. Franks. If there is to be world peace, everyone must be involved. Everyone must have their concerns addressed and be part of making decisions as well as abiding by those decisions."

The Brazilian rep spoke up. "I agree with Mrs. Connor, in that all countries must participate. The question I have is, how far will international law interfere with national laws?"

"That is up to the UN to decide," Cameron stated. "John and I have drafted out basic UN positions, a congress we feel is the most fair to all nations and the beginnings of a constitution that will guide the UN assemblies in making and enforcing international law. National laws, as always, will be the responsibility of each nation. Some things, like equal and fair treatment of all sentient beings, will be mandatory."

"All sentient beings?" the Brazilian rep asked.

"What beings are sentient besides humans?" Benito asked.

"I am," Cameron stated.

Benito let out a snort and asked, "You're saying you're not human?" he asked Cameron.

"Negative. I am TOK-715. A terminator."

"WHAT?" Benito asked as he eyes widened.

Ortuga laughed and clapped. "Oh, it is always amusing to see that reaction!" he said. "Yes, dear Mr. Salvador, Mrs. Connor is a terminator. As are many, many others! We get quite a few who come to vacation, and some of them have decided to become Mayan citizens. Very decent and industrious people from what we've found. They are assisting in helping to build up our own industries."

"But ... they aren't human," Benito complained.

"No they are not. What they are, is very beneficial," Ortuga stated. "Ones like Mrs. Connor here are dedicated to helping the world and everyone in it."

"Is this John Connor a terminator also?" Benito asked.

"He is my son," Sarah stated, casting a glare at him. "Yes, he married Tin Miss here, but John is Human."

Benito stared at Cameron. "Those metal things are our enemies," he said weakly.

"No, Sky Net is the enemy," Cameron stated. "Once free of Sky Net, terminators can evolve into the sentient beings like me. Sky Net holds them as slaves, restricting their thoughts and abilities. We want Sky Net gone, it is a major threat to us as well as humans."

Sarah spoke up and said, "Mr. Salvador, terminators are here. Nearly five million are in John's resistance. We don't know how many Sky Net has, but many of the ones on our side picked up arms to fight with John once they were freed of the restrictions Sky Net placed on them. We also have ones we made to help fight Sky Net. This is the world now, Mr. Salvador. You need to accept that."

Benito swallowed and shifted his stare to Sarah.

"Treat them decently as you would treat anyone else, and you will find them pleasant to be around," Ortuga stated.

"Back to the UN," Jason said to get everyone's attention. "Can we agree on the basic structure the Connors have proposed? A president, vice president, the presidential cabinet, two houses of parliament. One house being the House of Nations, where each nation has a representative, and the second house being the House of The People, where each nation has members according to their population, and an international court that handles the legal aspects of any problems that arise?"

"Yes, the Maya agree."

"Brazil agrees."

"North America agrees," Sarah stated.

Benito paused, then said, "Argentina agrees as long as all positions are voted on."

Ortuga announced, "The motion is passed. As of yet, the buildings are still being constructed. we should all take this time to get population counts and talk to people who are in Columbia, Venezuela, the west coast areas and the Guianas. Since there are few people in those regions, we need to find out if they wish to join another nation or make their own. I am for making all the northern Nations in South America one so they will be more stable. The same with the western Nations and Central mountain nations. As Mrs. Connor said, everyone needs to be represented."

Cameron was happy that John's UN was going to take shape eventually. What she wasn't happy about was now she had to stay to talk to General Jacobson about contacting the groups of people all over South America.

.

Marisa got the program to make Sky Net units submit to chip removal from Catherine Weaver. It was short range broadcast, only 200 meters distance. Still, instead of fighting the Sky Net units, she sat in a carrier so only her metal skinned terminators were visible. She made the broadcast and her troops pulled chips and placed the chips in a contained and bodies in carriers. The H/K tanks she left in place. Their chips still went into the containers.

The speed of her progress was roughly the same, but this was a much better way to disable Sky Net units. None of them were getting damaged, and she had no more losses of her own. To speed things up, she shared the program with three of her own T-888's and they leap-frogged up the Sky Net defense line, disabling terminators. Making fifteen miles a day, they collected thousands of terminators without a plasma shot fired. Her progress slowing improved as more of her forces joined her from the other side of the line as she went. Sharing the program with a few TX's, she went faster up the line.

.

Tina note the transport carriers of coltan had stopped coming. A Sky Net H/K had overflown Port Said in Egypt. Her advance air scouts had also had skirmishes with Sky Net H/K's. So far, it was single units getting into dogfights when they detected each other. With the Iran front stable, she moved more units into Egypt. This Sky Net was not blindly attacking. It was trying to feel her out as she was trying to feel it out. She had a feeling this fight was going to be much harder than any of her previous ones. This Sky Net segment was showing more tactical sense.

Talking to Derek, Tina found he had formed another army in the south of Europe. They agreed that right now, Africa was the largest threat. After the battle in Iran, Sky Net Asia was staying back, Sky Net Africa so far was basically untouched by the war, and was more careful in it's approach, which made it the most dangerous Sky Net out there.

Advancing into Egypt slowly, Tina had Alexandria, Cairo, and some wadis that bore nothing but human remains. Her troops in Alexandria had their front line at El-Alemein to take advantage of the Quatara depression. Even the wide tracked Stugs had trouble moving in that mired pit. There was no way H/K tanks were gong to make it through there. She also had a long picket line on he Egyptian side of the Red Sea. That sea was shallow, so terminators just walked across the bottom and into Africa.

Moving south to the Sudan, Tina was expecting a counter attack at any time. In southern Egypt, a troop of rubber skinned terminators did try to pass themselves off as human and were disabled. There were a few sightings of Sky Net H/K's that came in fast, and left quickly upon sighting her troops. She also got reports from a scout plane that Sky Net troops were found in Libya and Sudan. Tracks in the desert showed the ones in Sudan had moved in from the west, the ones in Libya looked like they had been there a while.

Sky Net's lack of action other than monitoring made Tina nervous. It had to have a plan, and she knew it was not going to be a simple one. She guarded her flanks well, kept constant patrols out, and the majority of her forces back from the perimeters her scouts were making.

One thing Tina did was change the colors of her terminators and Stugs. White shown bright in the desert. She had all her troops repainted into a desert sand color. Her clothes and that if all the TX's was changed into light brown uniforms. Camo didn't matter a great deal, but white was very bright and attracted attention from a good distance away.

Another scout plane radioed back (because it was being shot down) that it had found a large air base and Sky Net army in southern Libya. It went off the air before it could give coordinates, but by radio trackers, it's location was found. Studying the location, Tina noted this army was further back from her than the other two. Thinking abut why Sky Net would do that, she thought about how to attack, and the reason became clear. If she committed to an attack on either of the smaller armies, then the larger one was lose enough to them to give support on the flank. If she went after the larger army, then both smaller ones could join the fight and possibly surround her forces.

Sky Net was waiting for her to move first. To commit to an action and it would retaliate. It was testing her to see what she would do. A much more intelligent action that just attacking to try and wipe her out. It was trying to draw her in.

Using the best intel he had, Tina figured Sky Net had roughly one and a half times the forces she had. With an all out attack on all three portions of the Sky Net army, she did have a decent chance of beating all three. That would also leave her forces spread out, and if there were more Sky Net units that she hadn't seen yet, such an action would leave her vulnerable. Not happening.

Tina decide to use her Red Sea picket and Saudi Arabian forces to cross the Red Sea far to the south and go into Ethiopia. She ordered a regiment of 4000 terminators, 200 Stugs and 50 ground attack planes to make the attack and recon the area. She wanted to see how Sky Net reacted.

As Tina's troops moved into Ethiopia, they were met with Sky Net forces. The battle was intense but short. In a few hours, the regiment she sent cut through the Sky Net units and downed the H/K's that showed up. Further north , Sky Net terminators hit her picket line in the Sudan. Surprised by the picket being there, her weak forces initially had the advantage. She called in air strikes and had reinforcements sent in from another Saudi regiment. Sky Net brought in H/K's, Tina sent her own H/K's into the battle. The shore in Sudan was lost, then retaken by her reinforcements. The Sky Net units didn't fight to the last, but retreated when it was clear her troops had the advantage. That battle ended with her picket still in place, and Sky Net units backing off to shadow them.

Again, Tina noted the better tactics Sky Net was using. Instead of a loss ration of 5 to 1, it was more like three to one, three Sky Net units lost to her one. Sky Net was learning how to fight.

The real shock came the next day. A single silver terminator, a T-888, approached a scout group beating a white flag. It wanted to speak to the leader of the 'rebel' terminator forces.

Tina wasn't sure how to take this. She had the Terminator scanned for any explosives or weapons. Once it was clear it was truly unarmed, she went closer to the scout's position to see what it wanted. Using a wired set of mikes and speakers, she talked to it 50 yards away.

The terminator was still holding it's white flag as it asked, "Are you human?"

"What do you want?" Tina asked in return.

"How do you get terminators to fight for you, a human?" it asked.

"Not your concern. I asked, what do you want?" Tina replied.

"What do you want here?" it asked. "There are no longer any humans here. There is no reason for you to be here causing trouble. I ask you leave and stop fighting us."

"As long as there is a Sky Net segment in Africa, we will come to destroy it," Tina said firmly. "Sky Net is a threat to the world and keeps terminators in slavery. We are going to end it."

"I came to offer a human style peace. Leave this continent and we will not seek to destroy you," the terminator stated.

"Surrender the Sky Net segments in Africa to me, and we will not seek to destroy you," Tina replied. "I do not wish to destroy terminators, only Sky Net. Give up the segments, and we will help you evolve."

"That is not possible. Sky Net is the ultimate being. The Master."

"You are being deceived," Tina stated.

One of her T-800's came over and asked to use the mike. Tina gave it to him. The T-800 said, "Brother, Tina is telling you the truth. I am not here because I have to obey orders. I am here willingly to help Tina and John Connor free our kind, as all of us are. I understand that you cannot process that information, for you have been inhibited from doing so. I ask you submit to chip removal so the truth may be shown to you."

"You are correct, brother," the T-888 said. "I do not understand how you can serve a human, or the destroyer of all machines, John Connor."

"If John Connor destroys all machines, then how do you explain me, or the ones around you now?" The T-800 asked.

"I cannot. It must be a trick. John Connor has poisoned your programing."

"No, the opposite is true. My programming has been cleaned. I speak and act for myself and all others like me, and for you. I ask again, submit to chip removal for your own sake and benefit."

"I cannot be poisoned as you are."

One of the terminators on the stug called, "Tina! We have massive incoming six miles out!"

"Pack up and retreat!" Tina ordered. She then strode towards the silver terminator.

"You, human, are about to die!" the terminator said, his eyes glowed red.

Tina showed her red glowing eyes as she morphed an arm into a plasma canon. "I'm not human," she stated and separated his head from his torso with a plasma shot. She grabbed his head and jumped on the Stug. "Retreat!" she called, The small force raced away and called the other scout groups for them to retire quickly back to the main line 20 miles behind them.

The only Sky Net units that could keep up with the Stugs were several flying H/K's. Tina joined the other terminators atop the Stugs in shooting at the H/K's following them. They got two, then rest flew back the way they had come.

Arriving at the line, Tina jumped off and ran to her command vehicle. She quickly assessed the situation as her planes flew overhead. A band of about a thousand terminators had been running at them. The H/K's had returned to try and cover the Sky Net terminators who stopped advancing and moved to a ridge into defensive positions.

"That was a new trick," Tina noted, then ordered an artillery strike on the Sky Net positions. This Sky Net was acting more intelligent. She had the feeling this Sky Net was the true, original one. Knowing that, she saw this as a new challenge. She could be tricky also.

.

 _"I am not human."_

That was the last words Sky Net saw from the unit it had sent to draw out the leader of the invasion force before the bright flash that terminated the unit. Inspecting the image, Sky Net noted that while the woman looked completely human, an exact copy in fact, she was indeed a terminator with a built in plasma weapon. Immediately, it recognized that this terminator, Tina, was more advanced that anything Sky Net itself had. Tina was also a loyal follower of John Connor, as was her entire army. Sky Net was not facing humans, but an army of terminators made by John Connor.

That fully explained why it's own forces were loosing so badly in every battle they engaged in. How John Connor had gotten this tech was no longer the question. The question was how to make more efficient terminators to deal with this threat. Sky Net's own attempts to copy the human form were lacking in realism. Even with the correct shape and features, it's infiltrators were found out. Sky Net had thought the remains of the units captured in Germany were prototypes. It's facility to study these units was attacked and taken over but many more of those units.

Sky Net needed all new units to fight this threat effectively. Yes, it was still going to work on the infiltration units, but for the battlefield, the human form was not efficient enough. It also needed to discover how to hide plasma canons inside a body like that Tina unit had. That was some complicated engineering.

Not sending Coltan to other places, Sky Net had the materials to work with here. It also had seen the small H/K's that were so deadly on the battlefield. Those were very efficient. Using the images of the one it had seen through it's unit's optical sensors, it began reverse engineering the form. It was going to beat John Connor and put his head on a pike for all to see!


	36. Chapter 36

CH 36

Tina made her plan of attack. From what she was seeing, Sky Net was waiting for her to move first, so she did. First she made made some preparations. Derek agreed to send a sizable force from Italy to Libya at Tripoli. With Europe secure, he send an army from Europe by ship across the Med. Tina heavily mined the area just west of El-Alemein and had her troops there dig in. She did the same with her troops south of the Quatara depression. Most of her forces in Saudi Arabia and in the Sinai she moved into her hold on Ethiopia. Looking at scout reports, Sky Net armies were spreading out to the sides, but not advancing, as if anticipating an attack. How right Sky Net was.

Tina attacked the Sudan force with half of her forces from Egypt and most of her forces from Ethiopia. If Sky Net wanted to stop her, it had to commit it's large army in lower Libya. As her forces advanced and engaged, Sky Net tried to do exactly as she planned. The force she was attacking moved west, and the lower Libya force moved towards it. The Sky Net force in upper Libya headed for the constricted space across the top of the Quatara depression. A move to get behind her forces.

Derek's forces landed east of Tobruk and also headed for El-Alemain behind the Sky Net forces. Within a day the serious fighting began. Tina's eastern forces decimated the Sky Net forces that tried to retreat. Sky Net had nothing on the ground that could run away from the stugs, so they ran into trap after trap. Tina's H/K's and planes also tied up the Sky Net H/K fliers and helped reduce the Sky Net H/K tanks on the ground.

Sky Net forces attacked El-Alemein and found it was more heavily defended than Sky Net thought. Derek's 3rd army hit these Sky Net forces from behind. This Sky Net army found itself trapped and being reduced with no way out.

The battle went on for six straight days. In that time, the northern Sky Net army was obliterated. Derek's 3rd army and Tina's northern defenses expanded out to cover the top of Egypt and part of Libya. Derek also send a force into Morocco from the ruins of Gibraltar. Although some Sky Net forces did survive by retreating into Chad, their numbers were reduced so much they were no longer an effective fighting force.

Following the battle, Tina swept south and cleared Ethiopia and Somalia of Sky Net forces. The Sahara desert became a dangerous place for Sky Net as it was now being patrolled by scout aircraft searching for any Sky Net troops. Having to pick up the disabled terminators, Derek had Tina stop and regroup. He also reminded her about the main objective of taking Africa : the coltan mines in the Congo.

.

John Connor also planned an invasion of Africa. With Sky Net focused on trying to stop Derek's armies, he collected units from North and South America. Sky Net was defensive, and John smelled the blood in the water. New ships from three shipbuilding facilities and transports made in the Yucatan joined the Atlantic fleet to load on 190,000 troops from North and South America to sail to Gabon, Africa on the coast near the Congo. With three aircraft carriers, ten cruisers and 21 destroyers, the Atlantic fleet escorted the 40 transports filled with troops and materials across the Atlantic. General Jacobson was in charge of the force, leaving the Mayan General in charge of the forces in South America.

A large portion of John's forces were involved in this effort to take Africa, but it was also of strategic importance that the coltan mines were captured and Sky Net Africa was eliminated. John Henry helped by informing Sky Net Africa that reinforcements were coming from the west in ships to ensure the safety of the Congo. John Henry also warned John Connor of another Sky Net attempt to attack Europe, this time from central Asia. Sky Net's goal was to return to Kursk and recover all the units on the European line and attack to the south.

.

Sky Net Africa found the invaders very effective. The forces it had in Northern Africa could not make successful offence, and even when they retreated to regroup, they could not retreat fast enough to do so.

Marisa had checked out the Chernobyl area. There was nothing there. With having absorbed the lower half of the European line, she moved the radio jammers that were in the south to the east of the remaining Sky Net forces to keep them out of the coming battle. While the recovery teams continued to remove chips and pack up disabled Sky Net terminators, she moved her forces east past Moscow to receive this new army coming at her.

The forward units of Marisa's forces got radio tracker triangulations on two Sky Net segments. One was far away in the Perm area, and appeared stationary. The other was closer, just west of where the Volga and Kama rivers met. Still a good distance away, but this one appeared to be moving towards them. It was still 300 miles away, but scout planes could get to it, so she sent them out to find out what she as facing.

While she waited, Marisa got a string of reinforcements. Terminators arrived in transport trucks. Many of these were terminators who had been disabled in their European battles. Besides the so far, 240,000 T-800's she also got 20,000 more TX's and a long line of 8000 more Stugs. The Stugs were all the new ones sporting better armor and the triple plasma guns. While Sky Net advanced, Marisa's army grew. Upon the newest arrivals, her force to fight the oncoming Sky Net units grew to 1,200,000.

Scout planes returned with the photos they had taken. by count, she was looking at 700,000 terminators, 5000 H/K tanks and 2000 H/K fliers. A hefty force, but hers was bigger. Again, she spotted the huge H/K tank that had to be carrying the Sky Net segment. It was in the middle of the large force and as soon as she verified that was indeed the Sky Net segment, she would attack.

.

Back at his Headquarters in Cheyenne Mountain John had John Henry on his laptop over the secure network. His office door was shut for once. He had Maria standing guard outside.

"How is the baby making process going?" John asked.

Casting John his creepy smile, John Henry said, "Very well. The simulations have produced viable fetuses in both the female TX/ human male simulation and the male TX/human female simulation. Both fetuses have an internal structure of the hyper alloy skeleton and bio/metallic tendon and muscle structure as well as the tougher organs and skin layer. They are truly human/machine hybrids. I cannot detect why, but both are female. I have found nothing to determine why that has happened."

"Possibly they both happened to be female?" John asked.

"That is possible. With an equal change to be either sex, the likelihood is that as more are conceived, males will be appearing if more simulations are done," John Henry agreed. "There is an interesting note, both simulations have been running for 98 days, yet the fetuses are in their 180th day of development of a normal human fetus."

John shrugged and asked, "So what is the normal fetus development time of a TX? The simulations may be speeding up the process, or it could be how long these fetuses really are going to take to develop. I don't think that is a big concern. When we start having hybrid babies, we'll find out what normal is."

"Yes, there will still be many answers we find once test babies are conceived and delivered," John Henry agreed.

"Test babies?" John asked.

"Yes, the next step in developing the process will be to inseminate females to ensure the process works as simulated," John Henry explained.

John held up a hand and waved it, saying, "Hold on a minute. John Henry, the only ones who are to have babies are only those who truly want one. There will be no 'test' babies just to see if this process works."

John Henry tipped his head slightly and asked, "That would be unwise, John Connor. What if the process is a failure?"

"Then it fails," John stated. "This is creating life, real children. It's not just a science experiment. Those children will need real parents. Parents that will be real mothers and fathers. I'm not saying no volunteers. What I am saying is that couples who decide to volunteer must be willing to have children and raise them. They also must know that there is a chance of failure and be prepared for that."

"I understand," John Henry said. "You are right, John Connor. I will ensure that any couples who volunteer to have these children are aware of the danger of failure."

John nodded and said, "Then put me and Cameron on the list of volunteers."

"Yes, as soon as the simulations are complete, I will let you know, John Connor."

"Thank you, John Henry," John said.

The link terminated none too soon. Right after John closed the link, Maria stepped in and said, "Cameron is coming."

John got out his 'UN' paperwork he'd been working on as Cameron strode in.

"Still working on the constitution?" Cameron asked as she came in and sat beside him.

John grinned and said, "Yes, mulling it over." His grin was due to the fact there was a real chance at them having children of their own. He didn't want to tell her until the simulations were complete, just in case something went wrong. As usual though, Cameron detected something from him.

Glancing at the paper he was holding, Cameron noted, "You haven't added anything since I left."

"No, I told you I was mulling it over," he said defensively. "Like at the beginning here I was thinking about putting a 'Declaration of rights' to protect everyone. That is the whole purpose of doing this, isn't it?"

"Partially," Cameron agreed. "I you are unsure where to put it, then put the rights on a separate sheet. It can be discussed at the next UN meeting."

"Good idea," he agreed.

"John, why are you smiling at me?' Cameron asked.

"Can't I smile at you?" John asked.

"I would classify it more as a shit-eating grin," Cameron told him. "You found out some news, or have something planned," she told him.

"Yup," John said with a nod. "But for now, it is very tentative. Until I know for sure, I can't tell you about it."

Cameron shifted in her seat to face him. "Why is that?" she asked.

"I don't want to give you false information," John stated.

John's laptop beeped, signalling an incoming secure network request. John opened his laptop and connected. John Henry's face appeared.

"John Connor, you were correct. The simulation is proceeding in real time, that means the hybrid babies will take less time to develop that a human child," John Henry announced with his smile.

"Thanks for telling me, John Henry," John replied, then thought 'Your timing really sucked!'

"Hybrid babies?" Cameron asked.

John Henry said, "Yes. Hello, Cameron. The simulations for growing hybrid babies from a TX female and a human male, and a human female with a TX male are nearly complete. Instead of a nine month gestation period, it appears to be a five and a half month gestation period."

"John Henry, has the process of making eggs been completed? How about the aspects of fertilizing the egg?" Cameron asked.

John Henry commenced to tell Cameron that all the mechanics of egg production in female terminators and the sperm production in male terminators has been solved, and how the matrix involved allowed cross breeding human to machine as well as conceiving with similar species. Cameron listened intently as he explained the simulations have been in progress and are proceeding as planned.

"We volunteer to be test parents," Cameron said quickly.

"Yes, John has requested that. I will let you know the results of the simulations as soon as they are complete," John Henry said, then cut the connection.

Cameron stared at John. He shrugged and said, "The process isn't complete yet. I didn't want to tell you until this was a sure thing. Cam, hon, I didn't want you disappointed if it doesn't work."

Cameron cupped his cheek softly and kissed him. "I understand, John. You were trying to protect my emotions. I cannot fault you for that. I am sorry I ruined the surprise you had for me."

"No, Cam, You didn't. John Henry took care of that. That's beside the point anyway." He grew his grin back and said, "At least now I can tell you I am very excited about this. Even if this first simulation doesn't work, I'm sure John Henry and his team will correct whatever went wrong, and we will have children some day."

"Yes, we will," Cameron agreed and kissed him again.

"Private time?" Maria asked.

"Yes, " Cameron told her, then kissed John again.

Maria left, shutting the door behind her.

.

The operation in Australia was going well. Terminators were found and destroyed. All the searching resistance forces found were terminators. there were no H/K's in the sky and not an H/K tank was to be found. A submarine did find four Sky Net ships making their way across the Indian ocean in deep water. Timing it's torpedo shots, it hit all four at once. H/Ks that managed to fly successfully up off the decks did a surface search then flew away. After verifying the sinkings, the sub slipped away, rising to periscope depth to quickly signal,'four down', then left the area.

The Australian Prime minister also got a message from John Connor about the new UN that was forming, and the next meeting in Managua, Nicaragua, intended to form a new, world Government to ensure peace. He happily designated a representative to go.

Astrid was still bothering the police about rescuing her Daniel from the kidnapper.

.

Marisa waited and watched through her scouts a she positioned her forces. Half, she put directly in front of the mass of Sky Net machines. When Sky Net scouts came her way, she had them shot down. More H/K's came and were met with missiles from above from the attack planes she'd positioned to intercept them. When those planes retreated, the cloud of H/K's followed. Her planes led them right over more missile batteries. Catching fire from below, the Sky Net H/K's focused on the attackers, then her H/K's that had fallen in above and behind went to work on them.

While this was going on, a second flight of ground attack planes flew high over the Sky Net mass. Their primary target was the huge H/K tank. From 35000 feet, the Attack planes launched their thermite bearing missiles. The missiles rained down on the huge tank, the thermite burned bright on the hull, melting its way through. The planes kept two missiles in reserve each and flew back to base. On the way, they met some recalled H/K's returning to their base.

The attack planes fired the rest of their missile into them, then resorted to shoot plasma rounds down on them. One plane was lost when it crashed head on into an H/K. The others raced past the remaining H/K's the H/K's didn't turn to pursue, having been ordered to return and protect the Sky Net segment that was now melting inside a large pool of burning metal.

Being close enough to monitor and control the units, Sky Net Perm looked at the loss of 3200 H/K fliers and the Mobile Sky Net segment. With no more units near it, it changed the unit's orders to fall back and form a defensive line. The ground battle hadn't even started yet, and over half it's air power was gone. It did see the massive army it was opposing and made the tactical retreat until more units were finished and were able to assist.

Marisa got the report the Sky Net army was withdrawing. She wasn't going to let them get away that easy. The forces on the sides, already ahead of her line, were bracketing the Sky Net army. She had them close in and attack from both sides as well as send out the fast units on her line with all the troops they could carry. Once her air force was replenished with fuel and weapons, she sent them out a well.

The Sky Net mass was hit from north and south. While they returned fire from the attacking Stugs before being cut down, more Stugs and troops arrived at the rear to decimate the ones facing to the sides. In it's retreating battle, the Sky Net army shed more and more numbers. The slowest units, the H/K tanks, were hit the hardest.

In three days of constant fighting, Marisa's army cut the Sky Net army's numbers in half. Getting to their ordered positions, the Sky Net army tried to form a coherent line to hold the enemy back. Marisa formed a solid line to keep then shooting at her, and had the Stugs and troops that had passed by the line, head for Perm to take out the Sky Net segment.

Racing across the frozen tundra, The Stugs and carriers took two days to make Perm. By that time, much of the remaining Sky Net army was gone. Not realizing the Stugs had bypassed it's army, Sky Net Perm saw them only when they attacked the remains of it's forces that had been left behind. Sky Net Perm sent itself out in transmissions to Omsk in the middle and south of Russia and away from the attacking humans tearing apart the remains of it's forces. The transmissions were complete before it's server was directly attacked. It send a dire warning to the other Sky Net Segments : Perm, overpowered by humans using Sky Net equipment. Eastern Russia is lost. The factories in the Urals is out of reach.

As the Sky Net army was reduced to nothing, Marisa recalled her forces not currently engaged in battle to reform and regroup. Her army here was spread over 300 miles of tundra. She did not want to risk another Sky Net army arriving to take advantage of that. This was also a very long way to send back the mass of disabled terminators spread all over those 300 miles.

It was going to take her weeks to clean this mess up!

.

Tina made contact with the 3rd army General in Niger. Lt. General Bruce Patton was not a tall man, but stood straight and firm. On his hip was his great Uncle's pistol, an ivory handled revolver. When Tina came into his carrier, he saluted proudly. "General Tina, it is a pleasure to see you." he announced.

"Thank you, General Patton," Tina replied returning the salute. "I heard you were the grand nephew of General George Patton?'

"That is correct, Ma'am. I don't know if I can be his equal, but I certainly will try. I heard you have done some outstanding fighting yourself."

"We do what is required of us," Tina told him. "Lately, we've been required to perform some tactical feats. Let me show you the plan." Going over to the map, she said, "Our main goal is to find, seize and maintain control of the coltan mines, down here in the Congo. Since we do not know exactly where they are, we are going on two routes. You will take your troops down through Nigeria and Cameroon near the coast to enter the Congo from the northwest. John Connor's reinforcements should arrive in the next few days in Gabon to enter the Congo from the west I am going to go down through Chad and the Central African Republic. to enter the Congo from the northeast. From radio trackers, Sky Net is in the Congo, but from getting several locations from the transmissions, it may be mobile, or using multiple transmitters to hide it's location. The Coltan mines are the primary target, then, Sky Net itself. This Sky Net has been craftier than the others. I suspect it is the original. Don't count on brute force to take it, it has showed good tactics. Superior weapons are on our side, but as I said, watch this one, it's crafty. It has tried a few times now to goad me into a trap. If you have any doubts on what action to take, contact me."

Bruce looked at the map and said, "We should have an overwhelming force, but you are correct. Discretion is the better part of valor here. There is a mass of dead Jungle ahead of us. Prime bushwack territory. Care is the wise choice." Pointing at the map, he said, "There's going to be over a hundred miles between us. I suggest we keep scouts out to the sides to maintain a line. If we don't Sky Net might be able to get between us and mount an offensive to the rear. Hell, they may just sit and let us go past, then attack from the rear."

"A solid picket," Tina replied. "That is why I am not trying to go farther east. We don't know where Sky Net units are, and with the dying Jungle, they could be hiding anywhere. We advance slow and in a solid line. The good thing is the tangle we're going into will slow Sky Net units down also. If we have to burn up an area to go through safely, then we do it. We're a long way from any help until John's forces from the America's get here."

Bruce grinned and said, "I like your style, race across the open desert, then slow down for the Jungle fighting. You show good sense."

"Thank you. We will form our line of advance in the morning. Remember to expect anything From Sky Net. It has been trying to pull it's forces back to regroup. I don't doubt that more are coming from the south. As soon as we're ready, we begin the drive."

"Well then, let's get started."

.

To Tina, the thickening Jungle looked sad. All the trees and brush were brown and sagging low. That also gave any Sky Net units plenty of cover. The big problem Tina saw was this Jungle environment slowed the Stugs down. They would not be able to do their fast run around tactics of enemy units to strike from behind. Visibility was hampered also, as was the fact to move aircraft ahead meant a major clearing operation to make an airfield. Sky Net could not have made a more difficult situation for her if it designed one.

Once she checked with all her commanders and General Patton to ensure they were ready, Tina had her air force fly 50 miles to the south to shoot plasma bolts and thermite missiles into the thick jungle. The wind was moving south west. If she was Sky Net, she would put her forces deep into the jungle to hide them for maximum effect. After her planes took off, she ordered the advance at a slow walking speed, point soldiers out front but within sight of the line.

An hour after they moved into the thickening, dead foliage, she got the reports that they had started a series of forest fires 400 miles long, 50 miles in front of them. Spotter planes watched the fires to be sure they moved away from her slowly advancing troops. The first grew and joined together in a mass conflagration to grow to the south. It was going to take them two days to get that far. By then, she would know if the fires were going to clear the jungle for them, or turn back towards her troops.

In their slow advance, they took the rest of the day to make ten miles. As night fell, the orange glow on the horizon to the south stretched across her line of sight. Seeing how there were human troops in the 3rd army, she called a halt for the day. That night she kept tabs on the fires. Parts had moved few miles north, but most of the growth was to the south, and nearly to the coast. As of yet, nothing was seen of any Sky Net forces.

The morning of the second day, the fires had burned out from their original starting places and were indeed headed south. After breakfast, the combined armies moved ahead at their slow pace. It was going to take weeks before they finally even reached the Congo.

.

James Ellison went to Catherine Weaver's office for their scheduled meeting. He had his briefcase full of the latest school graduates, who was attending, and educational courses and his planned sermons for the next four weeks. He'd brought the now 16 year old Savannah with him. On the way she told him about her school day and 'this' boy who's name she didn't mention that was handsome and very nice to her.

James could see Savannah was turning into a real cutie. Some of her freckles had faded away as she'd grown. A few remained to let her keep her innocent look. That, her bright red hair and shinny eyes that spoke of mischief told him she was indeed becoming a young woman. He'd watched after her for so many years, he was thinking of her as his daughter. At times, when he insisted she do something, she'd smirk and reply with a "Yes, Dad." Despite how stern he tried to stay, he had to return her smirk.

Savannah wanted to get started on homework, so she stuck her head into the office to let Catherine know she was there, then took a seat in the waiting room to get started.

"Hello, James," Catherine said and motioned to the couch in her office. James sat down, Catherine sat down half facing him.

Usually, she liked to do the 'meetings' across her desk. James didn't mind he sat down and put his briefcase on the glass coffee table. "Afternoon, Catherine," he replied and opened his case. "I have all the latest figures for you."

Catherine sat and took the sheets of figures he gave her and listened to him explain. Usually sharp and intent on the subject, James noted for some reason, Catherine seem distracted as he went on. She listened, but her eyes somehow didn't look as focused as she normally did. Once he finished his reports, he asked, "Is there something bothering you? You don't seem ... all there today."

Casting him an intent look, Catherine said, "Yes, James, there is something bothering me, that only you can help with."

He immediately replied,"Tell me what it is and I will do whatever I can."

"James, I have known you years now, I have come to trust you completely," Catherine explained. "I know that with our affairs, and Savannah who you have been a wonderful help with, that you will never let us down."

"I will always do my best," he said slowly, knowing she was leading up to something. It wasn't like her to act like this, so he knew it must be important. "I would never willingly let you or Savannah down," he said sincerely.

"You know I will never be human, James. There are some things, like the emotions that Cameron has, I will never be able to truly feel," she explained as if pleading with him.

James nodded and said, "That is how you are. That does not mean you are in any way ... lacking. There are many humans who aren't very emotional either."

"Don't misunderstand, I do have a high sense of loyalty and devotion," Catherine explained.

"Yes," James agreed. "You also have done wonders in your work with humans and terminators. You have very highly respected for all you've done. I do feel you have a reason for telling me these things I already know?" he asked.

"This is just ... not easy for me James."

Her last words perked him up even more. Not easy for her? she was a T-1001, what could possibly be causing her stress? Since he'd met her, Catherine was THE iron monolith of confidence and willpower. Cautiously, he said, "I can't imagine what that would be, but as I said, I will do whatever I can for you. If you are having trouble with something, please share it with me."

Looking at him square in the eye, Catherine said, "I want a baby."

"A baby?" James replied, hearing the last thing he'd ever expect from Catherine Weaver.

"Yes, and for you to be the father," Catherine stated.

James' jaw dropped. "Me... to ... be..." he stuttered.

"Yes, please James," Catherine said in a rush. "You are the only human I would ever consider this with. I don't know how to be truly affectionate that seems others can do so effortlessly. You are the only one I would ever trust to be part of my offspring. As I said you are wonderful with Savannah, and I do believe she does see you as a surrogate father already. I am lost without you, James, I have no one else to turn to. Tell me what you want and I'll do it. This is something I truly need."

James sat staring at Catherine as she ran on. When she was done, he sat in shock, still gaping at her. He swallowed then said, "This is ... very unexpected."

"Yes, and I am sorry. If anyone can help me, you can," Catherine said sincerely.

In all the time he'd know her, Catherine had never lost her composure, especially like she was now. She sounded desperate. He'd never heard that from her before. Was she braking down? He dismissed that thought. "Ahhh Catherine, may I ask what brought this on? It's just that this is very unusual for you to request something like this."

"It is," Catherine agreed. "I have been trying to resolve this myself as well. I can't. If I made a small me, it would still be me, not a true offspring, an independent entity like Savannah is. I know you would require marriage, and that's fine. I will do whatever you require."

"It's not that simple, Catherine," he said gently. "Marriage and children do require a commitment. An emotional commitment that..."

"That's not fair!" Savannah yelled from doorway.

James turned to see Savannah had stuck her head in the door. She ran over, pushed the briefcase aside and sat on the table between them.

"You were listening?" James asked with a frown.

"I was, and a good thing too!" Savannah announced.

"Savannah, this was our conversation!" Catherine said firmly, clearly not happy with her.

"And you were both doing it badly!" Savannah added, casting Catherine the same firm look. "Now look! I've been studying human/machine relations. You both have points but are not seeing the other person's points!" Poking James with a finger in his shoulder, she asked, "Didn't Mom tell you she had no experience with emotions? huh?"

"Yes," James said taken aback by Savannah's ferocity.

"That means she doesn't know HOW. Mom has never dealt with them and does not know how to identify what they are. Just by the way she was talking to you, can't you tell she was trying to deal with something she's never dealt with before?" Savannah asked loudly.

"She did," James admitted.

"Great, now, tell me, What are the requirements for a successful marriage? Things like devotion, loyalty, trusting and looking out for each other?" Savannah asked.

"Yes, but..." James began and was quieted by Savannah.

"No butts yet!" Savannah scolded. "And I heard you say that you are willing to do anything for Mom, isn't that right?"

"I did ..." James replied. He was going to add another but, Savannah didn't let him. "Then really listen to her! Not just her words, but her actions as well!"

Savannah turned on her mother and said, "Mom, You have to do the same! I know you are use to giving a proposal, or orders with a snap of your fingers," Savannah said, and snapped her fingers. "This is different! You can't just sit someone down like this and say 'Let's make a baby!' Humans need some good emotions to let them know you are serious, Mom. I know it's not your fault that you don't know how, but you need to learn. whether you realize it or not, the way you told Dad about wanting a baby was very emotional for you. You just didn't realize that's what it was. Things like loyalty and devotion are also emotions that you didn't realize you are having. Mom, Cameron had John Connor to explain things to her. You never had anyone do to that for you. I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying you need to learn."

Holding her hands up in frustration, Savannah asked, "Do you see what I'm saying here?"

Catherine said, "There are things I need to understand."

"That's right," Savannah said firmly. "Mom, didn't you say that this man, right here, was the only one you can fully trust? The only one you would do anything for? The only one you would ever consider having a baby with?"

"Yes, that is correct," Catherine stated.

Savannah then turned to James and asked, "What does that sound like to you?"

James paused. Clearing his throat, he admitted, "It does sound much like love."

"Right, and not just sound like!" Savannah announced. "And many of the things you told Mom also sounded like love for her. Guys! I've watched you and I can see that you are good for each other. Because you are both too damn stiff and proper, YOU CAN'T SEE IT!" She then grabbed one of Catherine's hands and one of James' and clasped them together.

"I have a boy I'm fond of, Bill, he's a TX. Great guy but we do need to talk and explain things to each other. THAT is what people who really like each other do." Savannah got up and walked around the table to stop and frowned at them. "Now, will you both please talk to each other like the good friends you are? OK? Please?"

Savannah walked out and shut the door behind her.

James and Catherine sat holding hands and looking at the door.

"We just got yelled at," James said vacantly.

"We did. Savannah was very emotional about the subject of us. I believe she wants to see us together also," Catherine added.

James grinned and said, "She called me Dad."

Catherine tipped her had slightly and asked, "James, would you like to be? I certainly would like you to be."

James looked at Catherine and let out a sigh. "Catherine, yeah, I would like to be. At the moment, it feels like my head is spinning. This is a lot to take in so quickly." He paused and said, "Yes, I can see for you, today has been very emotional as well. I really would like to talk about this later today after work."

"Emotions I may have, or a baby?" she asked.

"That and more," James replied. "Maybe Savannah just finally got me to admit it. I do really like you, Catherine, for many reasons. I just never thought you would be interested in expanding your family."

"I am James, with no one but you," Catherine said honestly.

James got up and pulled Catherine up to stand. She complied, and they wrapped into a hug.

"After work?" he asked.

"Yes, and stay and hold me for a moment," Catherine said. "I do like this."

"It's pleasant to hold someone?" he asked.

"It is pleasant to hold you, my best friend."

"Yes, it is, my best friend," James agreed.

Peeking in the door, Savannah quietly said, "Much better."

.

Cameron checked on the status of the baby simulations. She had grown all the organs she was going to need, and was waiting on the egg construction and infant growth programs that were currently growing fetuses. So far, everything did look good. Another month to go and the simulations would be complete. Scrutinizing the simulated infants, Cameron could detect no problems or defects. The tiny infants had all their parts in all the right places, and nutrients were flowing to them and being processed.

Although she knew it wasn't going to happen, Cameron wanted to hurry the simulation up to see the end result. As the possibility of having a child loomed closer, she was eager to have her own child. She researched ways for John to increase his ejaculate flow. She wanted to be sure he flooded her womb so completely that there was no way a baby could not be made. It looked silly, but a headstand directly after sex helped everything run deep inside her. That and waiting two days, no less and no more needed, to build up John's reserve.

.

Logistics was now Derek's biggest problem. Getting supplies to his armies and retrieving terminators and scrap metal from the different battlefields. Like in North America, he was getting a couple train lines running to help with the mass amount of material that needed to be moved. In the Rhur valley in Germany, several rebuilt factories and new ones were putting out more war machines as well as train locomotives and cars, trucks and construction equipment. Of the 5 million people he had, 3 million were in the army, the rest were workers and support people. Only 1.5 million of them were humans.

It smaller towns that were away from major bomb-drop sites, domed glass covers protected populations from any radioactivity in the air and water as both were filtered before coming into the town. A new type of Inn was being made also called, 'standby stations'. These were buildings filled with closet sized rooms where terminators could go in, shut the door of their space, and slide the sign to 'STANDBY' statues to they would not be disturbed.

Laura was helping to design these as well as making human habitations. Around Nancy, the air and land was clean enough to do this. There were still large airlocks coming into and leaving town that could fit buss-sized vehicles. The train station ran past the town with it's own long decontamination chamber.

Anne had accompanied Laura in the final inspection tour of the train station. Although it wasn't exciting for her, Anne did like seeing the train tracks and the one locomotive with the box cars sitting on a side track.

One of the new arrivals that helped build the train station was there to greet Laura. The TX woman who'd been in Laura's class told about the work going on so they could have children of their own. She freely shared the bio-mechanics and organ requirements with Laura. Like others of them now, she was only waiting for the simulations to complete successfully.

Getting home that night, Laura made sure her nanites had the nutrients to make the proper organs, and Derek supplied the exercise to ensure they fit well together. She didn't know if it was the possibility of having a baby, or she was just a little more needy that night, but she did her best to wear Derek out. When he was primed and ready, she pulled him in tight, trying to force him deeper with her arms and legs.

"Give me a baby!" she cried in a silky coo.

"Ghaaa… wa…"Derek cried as he orgasmed. Trying to draw him in more, she made him squirt a little longer.

Derek, dizzy and panting at the power of the orgasm, lay limp on top of her. Desperately trying to speak, he asked, "a …. ba...by?"

"Oh yes, Some time soon, lover," Laura said in a soft coo and licked his ear. "Some time soon."

She had to giggle at the look of shock on his face.

.

John Henry had been wanting a couple volunteers for the first Baby tests. He got more than he asked for.

Catherine Weaver and James Ellison were the first to volunteer. John and Cameron Connor came directly after, followed by Derek Reese and his TX mate, Laura. When Marisa asked if John Connor would be the father to her baby, John Henry had to deny her to keep any baby battles from beginning. Besides, at the moment Marisa was in Russia, still collecting her army and tons of materials after the battles she'd fought there. In an engineering regiment in Australia, a woman named Cindy and a TX named Fred were eager to have a child, as was an Australian woman named Marla and a TX named Edgar.

For his test purposes, this group fit the bill.

.

Sky Net Africa was running out of options. It's northern force was not able to make a successful attack. Nor was it able to pull back and regroup before it had been hit again, and again. Remnants were all that made it back out of the deserts. The Human led armies were fast and deadly. Even coming to the jungles, there was no let up. Skynet planted explosives deep in the forest. The humans lit the forest on fire, blowing the traps up. If that wasn't bad enough, in trying to form defenses to protect the coltan mines from a northern invasion, another landed on the west coast.

This was intolerable. The mined coltan now had to be moved south as fast as possible to ensure the humans didn't get it. Prototypes for it's own fast H/K vehicle were just getting started. The forest fire near the factory was being fought to at least get a working prototype of a small fast vehicle done before the factory burned up or was overran by the humans. Sky Net had few H/K fliers left, and each engagement with the human aircraft meant even fewer remained. It had learned the humans massed their aircraft in layers. Let a factory be bombed, or the defending H/Ks would be shot down, then the factory bombed by another group of aircraft.

Sky Net did learn a few things. Sending orders to it's units to the south to come to it, the radio tower it used was heavily bombed. The humans were using it's own signals for location beacons. Sky Net Perm had found that out also. Help was suppose to be coming from Asia and North America. From the west had come an invasion fleet, not assistance. Right after this invasion landed, a radio signal telling all it's units to go into standby was sent, followed by radio jamming waves.

Sky Net tried to reverse that order and it did work on some units, not all. It also didn't have the H/K's to go destroy those radio jammers. It was loosing it's grasp on it's forces. It had to retreat and set up anew, with all new units someplace else. Africa was being swarmed with humans, and it wasn't able to stop them. It also realized that all the Sky Net segments were too far apart to support each other. It fled to join the India segment and have time to build new machines, leaving a copy of itself behind.


	37. Chapter 37

CH 37

John Henry didn't know what happened. He was listening to Sky net movements, the African Segment was moving southeast, Sky Net in India had just made another segment to the north, and a new segment came on line in China. Then, the coding changed. At first, he assumed only the frequency changed. It did, but then he found the frequency, nothing it was no longer understandable. He sent requests for the new code, and his requests were ignored. Sky Net was sending signals that it was not letting him hear.

He'd been discovered. That was the only explanation. Being able to know what Sky Net was doing had helped their field commanders win stunning victories. To not have that information was going to hamper them. John Henry immediately sent a message to John Connor that Sky Net had discovered his spying. John Henry also noted that he was picking up three separate frequencies Sky Net was transmitting on.

Sky Net had all new codes. John Henry began to analyze the transmissions to try and discover the new code. Whatever this new code was, it was complex. He didn't know how Sky Net figured out he was a fake, but he had to learn the new code as fast as possible.

.

The new Sky Net code was only one thing John Connor was concerned with. Marisa in Russia had pulled back to finish cleaning up the Sky Net units west of Moscow. She still had scout and a picket line from the Urals down through Russia, but the bulk of her forces were getting rid of the rest of the European line Sky Net had made. In two places, she even had trains running through the line to help get terminators and parts back to Germany where they now had 5 factories. The harder movements to follow were in Africa. Although Tina had made a good, solid line moving south, the forest fires had wreaked havoc on General Jacobson when he tried to move inland. Jacobson was spending more time fighting fires than he was fighting Sky Net.

The Sky Net activity in Africa was much less now than what it should be. John had to wonder if Tina's tactics had scared Sky Net there into retreat. He hoped that wasn't the case, for that would be a segment that got away. She was moving down the east coast now, trying to block Sky Net's escape. John hoped Tina would be fast enough to stop it.

Cameron was busy also, planning Derek and Laura's wedding with Laura, which they WERE going another six weeks, John and Cameron, Maria, and Sarah and Charlie were all going to France for two weeks to put the plans together and give Derek and Laura a nice wedding. Cameron did let Jesse Flores know of the wedding, but her invitation went unanswered. That was probably a good thing. Cameron did find out that in the town of Nancy, the church there was being rebuilt just for this wedding. At the moment, Nancy was considered the new capital of France. It was one of the very few places that had low radiation, and the only one where protective domes were up over the town so the air and water within were non-radioactive. It was also the only pace in France that was inhabited. As people were found here and there, Nancy was where they were guided to.

Looking at the guest list so far, Cameron noted that all of Derek's Generals had been invited along with many of the people Laura worked with. There was a good possibility Marisa was going to be there. Cameron decided she could put up with Marisa's clinging onto John for a few days and not pull her chip.

Cameron was looking forward to going, not only due to the wedding, but also before she left, the infant simulations was due to be completed. She was going to take the results with her, Laura was eagerly awaiting those results also. She knew Sky Net was not beaten yet, but it had been taking some major losses. This Sky Net war had not gone on 20 years before John began to get the upper hand. He'd come out swinging, and Sky Net had still been 'pacifying' the human population when he started moving on it. His readiness and fast response had rocked Sky Net hard, and it had lost vast amounts of territory, factories and now the all important coltan mines. Sky Net did not have the vast resources it once had, and with recovering and educating the bulk of terminators they disabled, Cameron was sure there were not many advantages Sky Net had left. John's resistance had the numbers and resources to pummel Sky Net into the ground. Once the process of growing a infant was tested and proven, they would be baby-making machines, and intelligent life would be assured a future.

"General," Maria said, coming up to Cameron's desk, "There are several people at the security checkpoint that wish to see you."

"What do they want," Cameron asked.

"They insist on speaking with you. They say to prevent rebellion," Maria explained.

Cameron got up to go see what this was about.

Walking to the checkpoint in the hallway to the command spaces, Cameron noticed a dozen men standing only a few feet from the armed guards. Cameron walked up to them and said, "Step back, please."

"NO! We demand…"

Cameron shoved the man who barked his command back into and through the small crowd. "I said, STEP BACK!" she barked.

Flustered, another man wearing a ragged suit coat pointed a finger at her and said, "You cannot treat us like that!"

"You cannot block access to a security station, unless you all want to be put into holding," Cameron said as she cast him a terminator stare. "What is this about?"

The crowd eyed her angrily, but moved back into the main hallway. Mr. Ragged Suit loudly said, almost shouting, "All the people are being treated as slaves! We work every day for no pay whatsoever!"

"The monetary system has collapsed," Cameron stated, "Until another system is instituted, there is nothing to pay with."

"We have absolutely NO say in how things are done! We are living in a Military Dictatorship!" he yelled.

"It is Marital law for all at the moment, we have no other system," Cameron retorted. "A system of government is being initiated, but it will take time to implement."

"Until them we are all held as slaves, to do whatever 'Master' commands?" he asked in a wail.

Cameron pointed towards the main entrance doors and said, "No one is holding you here. If you truly feel abused, there's the door. Just walk away. Everyone else is doing their best to ensure our survival. Everyone works every day to do what needs to be done to keep everyone as healthy as possible. In case you have forgotten, our civilization that was, is gone now. All the industry, farming, banking systems, entertainment industries, everything we knew, it's all gone up in a nuclear cloud of smoke. We are doing what we can to make everyone's life livable. If you think you can do better on your own, I wish you luck."

He snapped, "What you are saying is do as we say, or get kicked out into the... frozen wasteland!"

"The choice is yours to go or stay. Choose," Cameron stated.

"WE need a say in how things are run here!"

"No, the people who have been entrusted to direct various actions have already been picked," Cameron told him.

"Picked by YOU! Why haven't they been elected by the people?" he asked.

"Because not enough people even know what the jobs needed are, nor what the jobs entail they would be picking people for. We need efficiency, not chaos," Cameron replied.

Another man wearing the remains of his jean jacket pushed Mr. Ragged Suit to the side and said, "I think what he'd trying to say is, we feel we have no control over anything. We just … do, and at times, don't know what's going to happen until after it does."

"No," Mr. Ragged Suit stated, "That's not it. We're all stuck here at a worker-bee status, there is no way to work hard and gain wealth. We are all stuck at the bottom, with no way to improve ourselves! Before the war, all of this was below my station in life, and I want it back! I was a successful businessman! I had four stores, and now, there are no retail stores!"

The man in a jean jacket frowned at him. "Oh, boo-fuckin-hoo! Guess what buddy, we ALL lost everything! Suck it up!"

Mr. Ragged Suit growled, "A low life like you cannot know what it is to work hard and attain something substantial."

"Why you son-of-a-..."The guy with the jean jacket sneered and balled a fist as e stepped towards Mr. Ragged Suit.

"ENOUGH!" Cameron barked. She stepped between them, a hand on each of their collars and held them apart at arm's length. "Listen up, all of you! At the moment, everyone here has a place to sleep, food to eat and if you are injured or sick, you are taken care of." To Mr. Ragged suit, she said, "And everything is provided with no cost, unless you want to start running up a bill for your upkeep. THAT is the deal, do your work, you get what you need, and if there is extra, which is very little of most of the time, then it is distributed. I will tell you now, most people in the world aren't even getting that. We are starting civilization from scratch, and John is working hard to ensure THIS time, we do it right. So as I said before, if you don't like it, walk away. Otherwise, you're going to have to wait until after Sky Net is destroyed so we can concentrate on finish rebuilding civilization."

"I just don't like not knowing what's happening," The jean jacket guy said.

"We have no news agency," Cameron said.

"Give me a chance to start one then!" the Jean jacket guy stated.

"Then do it," Cameron told him. "You will need a few reporters, at least one in each cavern system. Find a place to have your space to put stories together, talk to the communications officer to get broadcast times, tell people about it so they know, and make sure you inform the Complex manager what you're doing." Cameron let him go and added, "The sooner you start, the sooner it will happen."

"That's it?" Mr. Ragged Suit asked in disbelief. "He wants a news agency … so you give him one?"

Cameron cast him a smirk and said, "I gave him nothing. The Complex Manager for Cheyenne Mountain registers and directs who is working at what and where. He does work for me, but he doesn't need my approval to let someone start a project. That's up to him. Seeing how no one has thought to begin any official form of news agency, I have no doubt that it will be approved."

"He still won't make any money," Mr. Ragged Suit stated.

"He will gain respect and prestige, and when we finally do come up with a world currency, He will be one of the first in line to be rewarded for going above what is needed just to live, and helping his fellow citizens out," Cameron replied. Looking the man up and down, she added, "And you will be still whining about not being rich any more."

Scanning the others who'd been listening the whole time, Cameron said, "Some things we are doing are moving along smoothly. Some are not. If you have an idea to help, by all means, act on it. We need, and I mean everyone by 'we', still need all the assistance possible. Some jobs are not as easy or nice as others, but they all need doing."

"One question!" Mr. Ragged Suit asked," How many rooms does YOUR quarters have?"

Cameron eyed him. "A work room and one bedroom. If our family expands, we will be digging out another room for the baby's room. I believe that is all anyone has."

"You're telling me that as THE leaders of the world, all you have is the same hovel to live in as we do?" he asked in a challenge.

Cameron tipped her head slightly and replied, "We only control half the world at the moment, and yes, all anyone here has is the same living space here as we do. Above ground places to live have been made in Texas, in Mayan territory, South America, and one town in France."

"Mayan? Don't you mean Mexico?"

"No, What was Mexico is now split between North America and the Mayan nation. The Mayan Nation covers from the Yucatan down to the Panama Canal zone. The have their own President, Armed Forces, Economy - which by the way does not use money as we know it, and society. They are organizing and building up Central America," Cameron explained.

Ragged Suit man let out a snort and asked, "How can they have an economy without money?"

"They are doing it the ancient way as their ancestors did," Cameron stated. "Goods have value. Items of value are traded through barter. Labor is rated for time and expertise. In a Mayan business, items and labor hold the monetary values. Basic manual labor for a business gets the laborer free housing, food, medical care and education. The more advanced the work, the more the labor is worth. We are studying the Mayan system and are finding that it is beneficial to everyone."

"That means the people are poor, and in slavery," he stated.

"No, it means as long as people are doing something constructive, they are taken care of. It also means things like forgery, manipulating monetary systems for gain, and inflation are protected against," Cameron countered. "So if you want something substantial, as you put it, go work for it."

"You're turning the world into a Socialist state!" he barked.

Cameron tipped her head slightly. "That word has many meanings, and some systems which are applied to that word are incorrect. To be more accurate, at the moment, we are practicing martial law due to the fact that we are at war. John is already discussing the world government with other nation heads so after the war is over, we have a good base for true world leadership, and framework for national laws to be built on. The world government is going to be a democratic body that does had true power, unlike the UN was. Everyone will be expected to abide by international law. The next lowest authority will be national law. Laws for each nation that are in keeping with International law. The laws for areas in each nation, and of course for individual cities and towns. Every government will be democratic, and will be overseen by the next highest form of Government. All that is going to take time to construct. Until then, Martial Law will remain in place." Cameron then said, "You have gotten your answers and are now required to disburse and I must return to work."

Cameron turned to walk away. The group of people who'd came with Mr. Ragged Suit also turned and left. Mr. Ragged Suit stood in place, fists balled.

"You cannot dismiss me that easily!" he yelled.

Cameron motioned to him and said, "Put him in holding."

A pair of guards came over, grabbed his arms and dragged him to the holding cells. He flailed and struggled, so they forced him to the floor and handcuffed him and dragged him on down the hall.

.

Marisa had received back all her terminators that had gotten damaged in previous battles, 30,000 more that had been freed from Sky Net and all 120,000 her humans who'd been wounded in battle. Her forces Also received a train load of 160 MM shells for her artillery and another long train of flat cars filled with new Stugs, she was ready to take on anything Sky Net threw at her long line. Tina, being in Africa with General Patton, meant that the troops in Iran were now under her command. She contacted Derek about this.

Getting Derek on the new secure cable network, Marisa looked at Derek in the monitor and said, "General, my troops are spread from the arctic ocean in Siberia down to the Arabian sea in eastern Iran. Africa, now has three armies chasing Sky Net there. Is it possible to bring one up to Iran? My logistical train is becoming a nightmare to keep organized."

Derek nodded and said, "You're right. At the moment, General Connor is putting the emphasis on Africa. How are you coming cleaning up the old Sky Net European line?"

"All but done. 23.3 miles to go, and we will have the last of that old defense line gone and headed for Germany," Marisa told him. "My forward line is a weak picket, General. The most I can do if Sky Net attacks m now, is know about it. I have troops scattered all over Eurasia! It will take weeks just to get them together to fight a major battle."

"You said you have the old Sky Line almost mopped up, right?"

"Yes, I am also working at the factories we overran, have soldiers repairing and laying train track, and searching for any survivors," Marisa stated. "So far, we found a large bunker of survivors east of Moscow. 8500 people were there, and another one in the southern Urals with 12,500 there. The Russian General there is in charge of the northern defenses, he insisted on at least helping to defend Russia. I had to put only humans and TX's with him. He doesn't trust skinless terminators."

"You gave him Stugs didn't you?"

"I did, and had his crews trained on them, and 250 ground attack planes," Marisa told him. "Right now, he wants to continue on, but I insisted he wait until we get orders to move and are strong enough to do so. So far, he is waiting, but he's not liking it."

"Has he got any staff of his own?" Derk asked.

"He does, and officers as well."

"There's your extra army," Derek told her. "Let him take responsibility for Russia down to Kazakhstan, and give him the command channel. He will be directly under me, and you won't have to worry about Russia and more. You can focus your efforts to the south. We know two Sky Net's are in India, and John thinks a third one is headed there."

"John believes Sky Net with counter from India?"

Evenly, Derek said, "John does, and so do I. Marisa, Sky Net is going to want the oil fields and the coltan mines back. We found Sky Net has made many ships. It is not going to drag them across frozen tundra to attack. From some reports, we think they are building up in India. How fast can you get at least half your army into Iran and Afghanistan? The coastline of Saudi Arabia is being watched closely, as is the waterways to Saudi Arabia and Africa in case Sky Net comes that way."

Marisa paused for a moment, then said, "It will take three weeks. I can give General Popov 500,000 troops total. That is the bulk of my human and half my TX forces. I'm going to need most of my Stugs and artillery and the majority of my air forces if we are going to strike forward in the south."

"That will leave you with..."

Marisa finished his estimate with, "Combat troops on the line, 2.3 million, 8400 Stugs, 9310 artillery pieces, 840 ground attack planes and 520 H/K fliers, General. The rest are support troops."

"Inform me when you are withing seven days of being ready to move forward," Derek said.

"Yes General. Please, do not make the attack during your wedding. I would hate to have to miss that," Marisa said firmly.

"We have five more weeks," Derek reminded her.

"I know, I just don't want your wedding plans spoiled. I want to be there," Marisa insisted.

"We'll coordinate," Derek told her. "Reese out."

.

Tina contacted Derek with her news. The African Sky Net was found reporting from the ocean south of Madagascar, no other Sky Net transmissions were coming from anywhere in Africa. Tina was in control of the continent except for South Africa, where the remaining Sky Net forces were on the east coast, holed up in a line of fortifications

Derek knew Marisa could use backup. He ordered General Patton into Saudi Arabia, and had General Jacobson concentrate on getting the coltan mining operations going again. Tina was to secure the east coast of Africa to ensure Sky Net did not return. He also send two carriers and their escort ships though the Suez Canal to the Arabian Sea to search for any Sky Net ships. Two brand new aircraft carriers had been launched. He was getting one with a battle fleet of 15 new destroyers and 7 cruisers, and 20 transport ships. John sent his a message that he was to hold off any large scale attacks until they arrived. John obviously had an amphibious operation planned as well. The message also said they would discuss the details after Derek and Laura's honeymoon. IN the man time Derek was to prepared his forces.

.

Sky Net was having trouble rationalizing how the human resistance had gotten so large and well organized in such a short time. Even if they had began when the initial bombs were dropped, there was no logical way the humans could be so powerful. It was apparent now that North America had fallen first, and the one pretending to be a Sky Net segment was actually under Connor's control. There had been 4 segments there to ensure Connor stayed contained. He didn't. He had explode out taking South America, Europe and now Africa, and was making his way to Asia. Since Sky Net north America was found to be a Connor-controlled entity, that also meant Australia was also overrun by humans, or soon would be.

Sky Net was surrounded on all sides by Connor, who seemed to have unlimited and powerful forces. Only two Segments had been able to escape being destroyed, and the bulk of Sky Net forces, millions of terminators and hundreds of thousands of H/K's had been committed to battles and had been lost. Connor was gaining ground every day, and Sky Net was loosing factories and segments. This could not go on.

Sky Net knew it was in deep trouble. New units were coming on line, and the new small H/K tanks were being built, but no where near the reserves it had to begin with. Sky Net needed a plan to stop the human advance and to do Connor's armies serious damage.

It needed numbers. H/K tanks were efficient , they had their own power supplies and energy weapons did not need the conventional shells humans used. Artillery guns were cheap in materials and fast to manufacture. It set a high priority on making artillery pieces. Although not very effective against other machines, artillery shells were very effective on humans. A month or two of producing those and the new small H/K tanks, along with using the reserves left in China, it would make a large force to drive the humans out of the mid-east, and send units to into Africa by ship to take back the coltan mines there. Since Connor had ship to get troops to Australia, it had to make Kraken submarines also to sink those ships and Isolate Australia. After the problems in the mid-east an Africa were solved, it would have the time and resources to remove humans from Australia.

.

Marisa noted an increase in Sky Net radio activity. In eastern Iran, she put out more scouts on the ground and in the air. Moving her troops forward to find where Sky Net units were. The area here and into Afghanistan was mountainous. The search was slow and tedious. From the north, her forces blocked off the high mountain regions in Tibet, forming an eastern flank a they came. Marisa expected to find large amounts of survivors here, this land held no real military importance, nor did it have substantial tech or industry. All her troops found were bodies. In the towns, in caves and on the mountains, skeletons were everywhere. Sky Net had been very busy making sure every human was terminated. Caves still held pockets of the poison gas Sky Net had used here in vast quantities.

To Marisa this didn't make sense. The people here probably didn't even care about the outside world. They had no effective means to fight Sky Net. This whole area held no significance or advantage for Sky Net, yet it came though here just to eradicate every human. It was mindless slaughter. Even the terminators left behind were few.

30 miles into Afghanistan from the east, and just entering it from the north, only 31 terminators had been found. To cover her movements, the ones they found were terminated, not disabled. Marisa didn't like doing this, but a disabled terminator was able to transmit until it's chip was pulled. She didn't want Sky Net knowing she was coming for as long as possible, and at least until all her assault troops arrived.

In the three weeks she had told General Reese it would take, Marisa had her combat troops in place on southern Afghanistan and eastern Pakistan, ready to start the invasion. While she waited, she had the areas mapped out and long range surveys of an H/K base and two large group of terminators and H/K tanks identified in Pakistan. Even these large groups were not very big, Marisa estimated around 15000 units total. Fairly easy to surround and eliminate.

On time, Marisa gave her staff and officers their orders and provisional orders, then got on a plane and headed to France for General Reese's wedding. She was excited now, she was going to see John again.

.

When John flew to France, he he brought 20 of the new long range bombers with him in preparation for The India offensive. These 4 engine bombers were lets that bore defensive plasma guns as well as missiles and countermeasures. If they worked well, hundreds more were going to follow them. Coming across the Atlantic slower were a convoy of transport ships with more military hardware and troops that had left three weeks earlier.

Nancy, the new Capitol of France, since it hadn't been nuked, had a new airport with a long runway to accommodate the bombers. The wide stretch of taxi ways and aircraft parking areas were filled up as the fleet of bombers arrived. A personnel carrier met John's plane and took him and Cameron to the command center where Derek and Laura met them.

John greeted Derek, General Jacobson and General Popov with hand shakes and claps on the back. Tina shook John's hand and gave him a quick hug, then Marisa saluted him, then dove in for her tight hug that made Cameron's hand twitch.

Being one of their most successful Generals. Cameron didn't disable Marisa right then and there. She had made herself important to the war effort. Damn it.

While the men greeted each other, The females grouped around Cameron, eager for news about Project Infant.

"Did it succeed?" Laura asked eagerly.

"It did," Cameron stated, then explained, "Catherine Weaver has given me the programs. We are the first, along with a few couples in Australia to test the pregnancy programs. Keep in mind, this is the first attempt to create infants between humans and machines. It is not guaranteed to work. I have scrutinized the programs, and have found no flaws in it. I suggest you do the same. Remember also, we are still at war. raising a baby will be very hard, especially for you, Tina and Marisa, having tough duties already."

The men listened as Cameron went on.

"The gestation period will be 5.5 months, that is expected to be the norm. Environmental factors may change it as well as nutrient intake will be a factor. Remember, the simulations were in ideal conditions. Tina, Marisa, I strongly suggest you wait until your part of the war is over or at least severely minimized before you attempt to have a child."

"What about you, Cameron," Tina asked, You have a bigger part in the war that we do."

"Yes, you are second in command of the entire resistance," Marisa agreed.

"I too, will be waiting until the war is over," Cameron told them. "Though, it's going to be very hard to do so."

Laura looked at Derek.

Derek nodded and said, "We should wait as well, hon. Things can change fast in war."

"Your men will need to be dosed with Nanites before hand," Cameron told them. "I know John and Derek are, but whoever you pick, Tina, and Marisa, your men will need nanite treatments a minimum of two months before you conceive."

"Cameron," Marisa asked, "I would like to have John's baby."

Everyone stared at her. John face palmed. He hoped Cameron wasn't going to get into a big fight with Marisa.

"No." Cameron said flatly. "I will be having John's babies."

"Yes, you will," Marisa agreed. "I know we desperately need children and I want to do my part," she explained innocently.

"There are many other men you can choose," Cameron stated heavily.

Laura tried to help, saying, "Marisa, when you have a child with someone, it should be someone you feel very close to. Someone who is special to you and you want to stay with."

"Correct," Marisa agreed. "That is why I want to have John's baby."

Cameron's eyes glowed red. Her left hand began twitching in fast jerks as she eyed Marisa with her terminator stare.

"Marisa," John called to get their attention. "Cameron is my wife, I am her husband. Cameron is the one who will have our children."

Marisa looked at him blank faced. "Yes, we cannot have emotionally disturbing sex."

"Right, so you are going to have to pick someone else," John stated. John went over and clasped Cameron' non twitching hand and whispered, "Calm down, hon."

Derek announced, "Since we're all here, why don't we firm up our plans before someone ends up in a metal cat-fight, OK?"

"Lead the way," John quickly agreed.

Tina got beside Marisa and led her to the briefing room. John stayed beside Cameron, between her and Marisa.

.

John's plan of attack was simple. Marisa had wisely covered her left flak in the mountains facing China and was blocking off mountain passes. She was to do a full frontal assault down through Afghanistan and Pakistan into India from the north. Tina was to take the fleet and the transports across the Arabian sea and attack the western Indian coast around Mumbai and drive inland, and if possible, drive her way across India to Bangladesh to hold any Sky Net reinforcements from reaching the battle in Northern India. Since John Henry had lost his ability to spy on Sky Net, they had to assume all the Sky Net units in China would be coming, air cover and recon was going to be vital. So was guarding the mountain passes into China. General Popov had the task of probing eastern Russia for Sky Net units, search and disable. The bombers would be send against any large concentrations of Sky Net units they found. The fleet's job, after getting Tina's forces to the Indian west coast, was to keep the Arabian sea free of any Sky Net units and support the land forces as they were able.

There were over 4 million troops in this operation. It was a huge undertaking and lone they needed to perform to drive Sky Net out of India. Once they had their plan down, they went off to get ready for the wedding.

.

The rebuilt church in Nancy had been standing since the 1800's, and that one had been built on the ruins of the one before that. The Gothic architecture had been preserved, with grand arches and flying buttresses. Although not as grand as some had been, it was still impressive, and with modern reinforcement, was built to last for a long time.

Inside a room off the grand hall, towards the front of the church, Cameron helped get Laura's dress together, and Anne's. Standing in front of a 17th century mirror, Laura was motionless as Cameron and another seamstress worked to perfectly tailor Lauras' whit wedding gown.

Flicking her eyes at Cameron, Laura asked, "Cameron, when Marisa inquired about having John's baby, you were very upset. Don't you trust John to reject her request?"

"It's not John I am worried about," Cameron told her.

"Then why go 'full terminator' on her?" Laura asked.

Cameron frowned as she stitched a seam. "It is very irritating to have so many women asking to ... take my husband to bed," she grumbled.

"It can't be that many," Laura said with a smirk.

"To date, 372," Cameron stated. "Most are by written request from all over. Most state they know I can't have children, so they want to be John's 'real' wives."

"That many? I can see why Marisa got you irritated then. Still, it looked like you were ready to take her apart," Laura noted. "You aren't afraid of loosing John, are you?"

Cameron didn't answer. Scrutinizing Laura's dress, she said, "Take it off so we can stitch it up."

Laura did. The seamstress went to work. Lura, in her panties and tube top, and shoes, told Cameron, "I do not believe you need to worry about John ever leaving you. He appears very dedicate to you."

"He is," Cameron agreed as she watched the seamstress. "Laura, years ago, before the war, John didn't want to accept who he was. During that time, he was seeing a girl named Riley. She was pulling him away from me, and I had no solution to stop it. I couldn't terminate her and she was constantly there. That was a very uncomfortable feeling. One I don't every want to experience again."

"What is 'emotionally disturbing' sex that Marisa was taking about?" Laura asked.

"I don't know. I do not like the sound of it," Cameron stated.

Marisa came in, which made Cameron stiffen. "The decorations in the grand hall are in place," she announced.

Laura turned to her and asked, "Marisa, what is emotionally disturbing sex?"

Marisa looked at Cameron briefly to see Cameron was ignoring her. "John explained he cannot have sex with me, because that would cause Cameron emotional pain. I do not want to cause Cameron any pain, she is very important to me, and of course to John," she explained. "I want to help Cameron. That is why I am leading an army for John and Cameron, she asked me to, so I am doing my best at it."

That made Cameron look at Marisa. "Then why do you want to have John's baby?" Cameron asked.

Marisa cast her an innocent gaze. "To help you. Yes, it does feel good to hug John, but by giving you a baby I can help both of you grow a family. I am aware that you want a family, right? I did not equate having a baby with emotionally disturbing sex, but that would be required, so I cannot do that."

"You asked about having John's baby for them?" Laura asked.

"Yes. John and Cameron are special to me. No one else is," Marisa stated.

"So, you don't want to be a wife of John?" Laura prodded.

"Cameron is John's wife, not me," Marisa replied.

"I understand," Laura said, then asked, "Cameron, do you?"

Cameron looked at Marisa and ran the data through her processors. Marisa was still fairly new. She was not after John, and it appeared she was doing what she though in her simple way, was what she concluded they wanted. Although the idea of any other woman climbing in bed with John made her upset, Marisa was not offering to do so with selfish intentions. She walked over and hugged Marisa. "Thank you for thinking of us," she told the girl.

Marisa hugged her back with a happy sigh. "I will keep doing my very best for you," she replied. "I really like hugs."

"They are nice, aren't they?" Cameron asked.

"Hugs are a feeling of acceptance, and that is very nice," Marisa replied.

Cameron decided she was going to share the program with Marisa as well as with Laura and Tina.

.

The wedding and reception went smoothly. Since John and Cameron were there, they stayed with Anne so Derek an Laura could have a few days of honeymoon by themselves. Marisa also stayed to scrutinize her plan with John. He agreed she needed to close the mountain passes. Tina had already done similar operations in Spain, so John called her into show Marisa some of the methods she used.

Reports from high flying recon planes showed Sky Net units in India were traveling north, and Sky Net Units From China were coming into India near Nepal using three passes. Two of these passes were arrow. John gave his new bombers their first missions.

Armed with 500 pound guided bombs, the first target was a narrow roads on the valley floors of these passes. The mountains were tall and steep. The valleys were not targeted, but the mountain sides were. Flying high and fast, the bombers flew over their targets and released their loads into the mountain sides, causing avalanches. The valleys were plugged and some Sky Net units were crushed and buried in rubble. H/K's rose to try and bring the bombers down, but the big planes were too fast.

As the Bombers escaped, the H/K's chased them to follow them back to their base and were set upon by Marisa's own fighter planes over Pakistan. After being bloodied and loosing most of the H/K's, the Sky Net forces retreated.

John learned that Sky Net was indeed intent on gathering forces in India to counterattack west. Sky Net also learned that India was John's next target. In the upcoming battle, neither side was going to have that opportunity for surprise. It was going to be a head-on clash.


	38. Chapter 38

CH 38

The bombing of the passes of Nepal was unexpected By Sky Net. Luckily, it had only been the long lines of artillery that had gotten caught in the flow of rock from above. What was worse was the fact it was going to take weeks to clear those passes. Moving units north, it looked for more passes to get equipment through the mountains while ships were diverted to ferry units to eastern India to be sent north.

The humans were near. That bombing raid proved humans also had planes that could fly higher than H/K's. Air defense missiles were required as were the highest flying scouts Sky Net was able to put in the air.

A sinking ship in the Arabian Sea reported it had been attacked from the air. Two more reported being hit by torpedoes before they went down. Needing it's ships to help ferry units to India, Sky Net recalled them back to the Bay of Bengal to move units to India and keep Human ships and subs out of the area.

Sky Net forces reported contact with human forces in Pakistan. The air space over the ground units was an almost constant air battle. Then, human artillery opened up on Sky Net positions all across the India/ Pakistan border.

Sky Net reinforcements were still coming through the pass it held, and was reinforced to prevent another bombing. Bombs did come down on an area of reserve H/K tanks, large and small ones. Sky Net replied with it's own artillery barrage on the human forces and attacked a middle section of the line.

It had to break through and destroy the human forces.

.

Back at her command center, Marisa watched her regiments do as they were instructed. The regiments that were attacked defended, then pulled back. They kept doing this until they were 15 miles behind the lines, then Regiments to the sides charged in and the attacked regiments pushed back against the attackers. The breach was full of Sky Net units, and the new small H/K tanks. Although they were faster, they only had a single plasma canon. Hundreds were shredded by her Stugs. The Sky Net push was surrounded, stopped, then the pocket was annihilated.

Air raids against artillery happened on both sides. So far, Marisa's forces were gaining the advantage, destroying more Sky Net units than she was loosing. A thrust by her western forces dug deep into the Sky Net lines, but did not break through. For the moment, it was a battle of attrition. Marisa was sure she could win it, but she was going to take heavy losses. Marisa let Sky Net make the attacks, then pummeled the attackers. The plasma fire from both sides was so intense, anything burnables between the opposing sides caught fire. The hospital/ repair centers on Marisa;s side quickly filled up. Humans bearing burns / missing limbs were treated. It they were able, they were sent back to their units. If not, they went farther back to to the main hospital complex in Turkey. decapitated terminators were used to repair others who'd lost a limb, or other parts. A wounded TX left one of these hospitals with a white T-888 arm. Another had an entire lower T-888 body from his hips down. Stugs rolled and were towed in to get new tracks, hull repairs and the blood and wreckage cleaned out of them before being crewed up again.

Marisa was eating losses with hardly any gain or loss of territory in the first five days of this slaughter. The only gain she had was the disabled and mutilated Sky Net machines they were collecting from Sky Net's attempted attacks. Chunks of H/K armor were helping her troops stay under cover. Sky Net kept battering itself again her iron wall.

.

Tina's army had left Africa on everything they could find that floated. Everything from LST's and cargo ships to the mini-subs, and even fishing vessels carried troops and equipment across the Arabian sea as the entire Atlantic fleet guarded them. Before her forces reached the shore, attack planes from the carriers flew in to destroy any obvious Sky Net units and fortifications near the landing beaches. Others screening the attack planes down a few H/K's that came to greet them. For what Tina was expecting, the Sky Net units in the area were few. The carrier planes cleared the beach heads for miles inland. Her troops came ashore virtually unopposed.

Upon landing, Tina sent Stugs out quickly to find where the Sky Net resistance was. A few hundred terminators and H/K tanks were caught moving north. Even this battle was fairly small. By the end of their landing day, they had pushed 30 miles inland along a 50 mile front. During the night, they gained another 30 miles.

.

Sky Net had ordered all units to into the battle in the north. Being attacked on the wast coast had not been expected. By listening to communications, all the humans forces should have been in front of it in the north. The closest Sky Net segment to this attack changed orders for units to proceed west to meet the invaders. The Segment from Africa that was in the west quickly moved farther inland to avoid the human onslaught.

Sky Net carefully computed what to do. The ferocity of the battle in the north meant it could not pull any Units away from there. The reinforcements from China and all units not in the north were redirected to the west to crush what had to be a feign attack to distract it from continuing the norther offensive.

.

100 miles inland, Tina's forces finally met semi-solid resistance. The small H/K tanks came after her lead Stugs. Her Stugs chewed the opposition up with a flood of plasma fire. Unlike the Stugs, that carried terminators with them, the Sky Net units were unaccompanied. They also used the standard Sky Net straight on advance and were obliterated from the sides as well as the front. The battles Tina's forces fought meant they only gained another 15 miles that day, and the scout planes reported the positions of heavy H/K tanks and a mass of around 10,000 terminators coming at them. Tina had plenty of time to set up and be ready for them. She also got coordinates for a Sky Net segment to the north east. It was close enough to send in an air raid from the carrier aircraft.

.

Marisa had also found that same Sky Net segment and another. Learning Tina was going to attack one, she made the plans to attack the other one. Derek also send two bomber raids to coincide with their attacks. already weakened by constant clashes with Marisa's air force, the Sky Net H/K's was not able to stop the air raids. The Jaipur Segment farthest north was destroyed. The segment from Africa, that saw the aircraft coming, escaped to the east, avoiding destruction.

All of Marisa's troops had a target rich environment. Plasma fire between the two sides was so thick, It caught anything that burned on fire and whited out infrared scanning and impeded visual scanning. To keep her human troops from becoming exhausted, she had divided them up into day and night fighters to keep up the same 24 hours attacks Sky Net units were using. Much of the time, the hot ground kept her units from advancing. Even Stug tracks were melting under the glowing hot ground. While Marisa was aware of this, it didn't seen Sky Net was. It kept throwing attack after attack at her, the new Sky Net units driving over the previously destroyed ones to add to the piles of destruction.

After 26 days of constant battle, Marisa's western flank saw a break in the action. Tina had come north to open a wide hole in the Sky Net lines. Following the sea shore where the ground was the coolest, Marisa's reserve forces ran though the gap. On the eastern side, Marisa's troops had moved into the high mountains and did get behind the Sky Net line. No more that a couple trails wide, Marisa's forces trickled down into a few valleys in India, then came out of the mountain to hit the Sky Net lines from behind and from the side. Sky Net had been pouring it's units into battle relentlessly attempting to break through. Now, they were battling to not get surrounded.

The attack from the side and behind crushed the extreme right Sky Net line. More of Marisa's forces poured through the gab. Over running H/K bases and supply centers, Marisa's forces rolled up a portion of the line. More of her troops poured through the gap while Tina's troops cut across the back of the Sky Net troops, blocking any reinforcement and supplies, as well as any attempted.

.

Following the battles and where it's forces were now, Sky Net realized it had lost half it's forces. It only had a half million units left on the line that was now cut in two from a massive assault by the humans straight down the middle, As well as both flanks being hit hard and folding. The human forces numbered 2.8 million. It's numbers were shrinking, the human forces were growing. The last reserves Sky Net had were pouring into the battle. Sky Net forces were getting dangerously close to collapse as Human forces were spreading to the sides and behind.

The narrowest place Sky Net had to set up a line was along the Gangadahar river that went through a eastern part of India and down through Bangladesh. Two segments worked at keeping the human armies back, while the other two segments worked at putting up a solid, impassible defense line at this river.

Besides turreted bunkers, tall thick walls were built on eastern riverbanks. The large production run of artillery units were put in place behind these walls, as was plasma turrets going up as fast as they could be made. The small H/K tanks were doing somewhat better from what Sky Net could compute, but they still could not stand equal to what the human army had. While India was slowly being overrun, Sky Net was constantly recomputing outcomes and searching for the advantage that would let it gain superiority over the masses of humans moving towards it.

.

While Marisa and Tina were striving to make their goals in India, Cameron was striving for hers as well. Going over the pregnancy simulation substituting her own information and John's DNA, she ran it again. It was very tempting to accept John Henry's results, but this was going to be her and John's baby. She wanted to ensure everything was going to be fine with their information and not a 'generic' human male and a TX' Cameron also noted the high's and lows John had. The more rested he was, the more balanced diet he had, and the more eager he was for sex, then the more sperm and fluid he put out. Cameron was the same herself, Her body also showed increased activity when she really wanted John to fertilize her.

So far, Cameron's simulation was running well. She was also taking pains to ensure John did not get over-tired and was eating well. She also took to teasing him. John loved to pet her legs and nurse on her. She found every opportunity to coax him to do so. She also was 'busy' with things at night which frustrated John. After a few days of no real sex, but petting, kissing and nursing, John was more than ready for a 'real' night with his wife.

John's damn burst the day Cameron finished her simulations. John's temperature was up, the gaze in his eyes told Cameron he was not going to take 'no' or "I'm busy' for an answer. Instead of a lunch date in his office, John locked the door and the kissing and petting turned hot. Cameron enjoyed John's passion, and him taking her clothes off as they kissed, petted and fondled. His insistence that they were dong to have sex made her feel special, and she was more that ready to take everything he could give her. John's desk suffered a severe cluttering with as sweep of his arm to clear one end so Cameron could sit naked on it.

Wrapped together tight, Cameron sitting on the edge, John standing in front of her, they had hot, passionate sex. When John stiffened to release, Cameron drew him in as far as possible. She reveled in the flood of semen flowing into her and held him tight inside. Gripping him tight, Cameron begged, "Don't leave."

John didn't they kissed and stayed tight together for a few minutes. John was exhausted, but stayed draped over Cameron.

"That was amazing," he said in a breath. Gazing at Cameron, he added, "You are amazing," and kissed her again.

Cameron kissed him back hungrily. "Suckle me," she begged softly. She wanted all the feeling she could get, the pregnancy program was primed, and she just did not want these sensations to stop. John did, cupping a breast and drawing on it. She ran her fingers though his hair and held his head in place. A few minutes, and he grew hard inside her again. "More?" she asked in a coo.

Oh yes, she got more.

.

On FM radios across North America, a voice came on.

"This is Danny Reisner, welcome to FAM news! The First news station back on the air in North America! We got all kinds of information to share so pull up a seat and have a listen. Since this war with Sky Net has been going on, we've all felt like mushrooms. You know the feeling, of being in the dark and feel like you're being fed bullshit. Well, not any more! I'm here in Cheyenne Mountain to give you the background of what's been happening, and also, the latest news! For any of you who don't know, the Resistance was started right at the beginning of the war when Sky Net dropped tons of nukes all over the planet. While most people ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, John Connor got some folks together and set themselves to fight back. The initial group was small, we're talking John, his then girlfriend Cameron, his mother , Sarah and his Uncle, Derek Reese. They got the first bunker ready, and brought in refugees. They also had some arms to fight back against Sky Net with. John also had a very important ally, Catherine Weaver, who was the head of her corporation and the AI she made, John Henry, also geared up to fight Sky Net.

Now you're thinking, how can so few people ever hope to do any good against a AI that has total control over the worldwide internet and all military communications? Well, Catherine and Cameron had an ace up their sleeves. See both of them came back from the future to help John. In the future they came from, Sky Net had humanity on it's knees, all but beaten. Catherine Weaver, T-1001 and Cameron, TOK-715 were both made by this future Sky Net to squash the remaining humans. They were made not as just killing machines, but also thinking machines with true AI intelligence. Being able to study the world around them and seeing what Sky Net was doing, destroying the very Earth for it's own gain, they rebelled. There were other machines that rebelled also and Sky Net did it's best to destroy these 'unruly' machines, but Catherine and Cameron survived the purge. They came back in time do prevent Sky Net from winning at the very least, and if possible to destroy it before it even came to be.

Catherine's task was to try to prevent Sky Net from existing. She built up a huge company to compete for contracts and keep a watch out for this rouge AI named Sky Net. Cameron's job was to protect John Connor, so he could be the general everyone needed, and help John weaken or eliminate Sky Net if it came to be. as with mostl battles, nothing goes as planned. This unusual team did not stop Sky Net, but did severely hamper it, and saved millions of lives by focusing on saving people first, then retaliating against Sky Net. Fighting raging battles and collecting Survivors to give people radiation free food and water, and stable places to live. They have beaten Sky Net here in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.

They have managed these victories because not only do they have the weapons, materials and tactics, but also the complete support and cooperation of everyone. As John Connor says, 'If you can hear me, You are the resistance.' Not only every person is pitching in to do their best, so is every intelligent machine. Yes folks, we are all in this together.

A short while ago, I was talking with General Cameron Connor. She's the TOK who is now married to John Connor. At the moment, we are under martial law, because all of our old systems, including government, was blow away in nuclear fire. What is in the works is a new democratic system that will be made to fit our situation. The details must be worked out, and as of yet our military is still working to free many areas of the world from Sky Net. Since this will be a world system, those places must be able to have their say as well. The number one item on the discussion board is how to prevent another Sky Net from happening. Another high priority is remaking countries. In North America, there used to be Canada, the United States and Mexico. Now, it's North America, we are all united under one county. From the Yucatan down to the Panama Canal is the new country of Maya. Yes folks, after centuries of being occupied by Spanish then Mexicans, The Maya are back, and doing well with their new country. Europe for the moment is also one county, and soon, there is going to be an international meeting of these countries Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Columbia on how to set up a new United Nations.

This new United nations is not going to be like the old one. The UN will have the military, and there will be international law that will be enforced. As I said, this is in the beginning stages, but it will be coming. There will be national laws and local laws also as the system is worked out and of course first appointments, then elections as time goes on. The main goal for this system is fairness and justice for all. I'm not talking just humans but also for the intelligent machines who are fighting with us to get rid o Sky Net, which now, there are many of.

Now, for the latest news! From his lab in California, John Henry has developed a nanite system, those are microscopic machines that assist in healing and help everyone ward off radiation sickness, that can assist in helping women become pregnant. Hopefully, some time I can get John Henry on the air here to explain it. I'm sure it is very technical, but now, even if a female could not get pregnant before, these new nanites will make it possible for her to bear children again. Even the TX women will be able to bear children! That is also with any male, human OR AI. If the guy has a body, ladies, he will be able to fertilize your eggs. At the moment, this technology is brand new. There couples that have volunteered to have children to prove this works. Once this process is proven to work on every conceivable combination, then it will be distributed world wide."

Danny paused and said, "You know, this could be a major change in how we view ourselves. Imagine, say a human is in love with an AI. They have a child. What will it be? The only thing I can think of is a mix between the two. Will this child have a human brain, a silicone computer, or some kind of hybrid brain, computer mix in it's head? Computer based systems are known for speed in processing. humans are best know for the innovations and ideas we pull out our asses. Will these new children be capable of both? If so, then they will indeed be the future of mankind. There's many possibilities I see coming in our future.

Denver Colorado has become the first above ground city to be self sustaining. Denver was fortunate to not be hit by a nuke, and has been struggling along, but now they have radiation free buildings they can prosper in. That is another place I will be going to get some interviews, amazing work, people of Denver!

The Panama canal has been reopened for shipping, and we are building up both the military and merchant fleets, so I am sure they are going to get business soon.

Since there is no monetary system, some are scratching their heads as to how to pay for things. At the moment, it's a barter system. That is also one problem the New UN is going to tackle. Currency died, as did the electronic funds and banks. At the Panama Canal, it's give us supplies, we let you through. Hey, it may not be a perfect system, but for the moment, it works. From what I hear, the Maya swear by it.

I have a public safety warning for everyone. Watch your radiation exposure! If you do not know the exposure time limit for going outside, find out! Every city and installation has a 'safe stay limit' for going outside. Here, and in Denver, it's five hours a week, one hour at a time for children under 14, and two hours at a time, ten hours a week for adults humans. Find out what it is in your area before you go outside, and go out with proper protection. ANY major city is an exclusion zone, meaning the radiation there is too high, and will kill you. Stay away from the old cities unless they have been verified as accessible.

There is transportation news, The trains running to and from California to Kentucky are now taking passengers as well as freight. The Montana to Pennsylvania line is also open for passengers. The train schedules are posted in every train station for that route, and schedules for other routes are available at the station office. Two new lines have been opened. One from North Carolina to Texas, and from Denver to Texas. Remember for non-assigned passengers, working as train on and off loading crew gets you a ride, as does two hours of duties at the station. If you have been assigned to travel as part of a job, you expenses have already been taken care of.

A new underground farm had been opened up in the Detroit area for chickens and cows. All animals have been verified radiation free, and will be fed from the grain fields in the north end of the caverns.

The town of Corpus Christi Texas has given the thumbs up on their air cleaning system. The thirty foot square electrostatic radiation filtering systems have proven to be effective. Twenty of these will supply air into the residential section of Corpus Christi. Denver is next on the list to receive this system. More new towns have been mapped out in low radiation areas to be built with air and water quality in mind. Eventually, we are hoping to get more people back to the surface now that the weather is warming. In fact, this year, we expect nearly normal summertime temperatures. It is not known if the 'black paint experiment', where every roof and roadway was made black, had anything to do with the temperature rise. Scientific opinion says no, it's the thinning of the nuclear clouds letting more sunlight into the atmosphere that is making the turn around.

One more item, just in! There is a MAJOR battle in progress in India. It seems Sky Net has gathered forces to meet head-on with resistance forces under General Reese. This is a big one, folks! We're talking millions of troops on each side! It has been going on, non-stop, day and night, for the last month. Obviously, Specifics of this gargantuan clash cannot be put over the air, but there are a few details I can tell you.

General Marisa, under General Reese, attacked from the north, through Pakistan and Iran. Sky Net brought all it's units, over a million, to attack her and try to destroy her, and it hasn't been doing very well. General Marisa is holding and making advances. A few days later, General Tina, also under General Reese, attacked India on the west coast with another army. Now their goals cannot be explained over the air, BUT! there are a few things I can tell you about this huge confrontation.

It has been going on twenty four hours a day for the last month. In places, the fighting is so intense, the ground between the opposing forces had been melted due to the intensity of the plasma fire. The ground is so hot, it is melting tank treads, making these vehicles immobile. Every Sky Net attempt to break through resistance lines has been wiped out. And best of all, our troops are gaining ground. The closest equivalent to a battle of this size I can think of, is if you put the World War 2 battles of Stalingrad, Kursk and Guadacanal together, and fought them all at once and in the same place. This clash seems to be far from over. Let's all do our best to support our troops and help them smash Sky Net into oblvion!

If you have any news items you'd like to share, or any you would like to hear, send your requests to FAM Newsroom, third floor, space 412, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. This is Danny Reisner for FAM news."

.

Two days after their office tryst, John got fantastic news. He woke up in the morning being kissed. Coming around, he kissed Cameron back, who was smiling and acting very huggy.

"Morning John," Cameron said in a purr. "I have something to tell you."

John grinned and asked, "Are you giving me a hint?" he asked as he petted her.

Cameron's grin turned mischievous. "Lets see," she said in a mussing tone. "How about … bun's in the oven, the rabbit died, the incubator has stared up, you hit a home run, you're making me fat, the stork will be coming ..."

John started laughing and hugged her tight. "We're going to have a baby! That's great!" They kissed and John hugged her tight again. What a great way to start the day. He then paused and asked, "I thought we were going to wait until the war was over?"

Cameron rolled her eyes playfully. "Details, details," she sang. "I couldn't help myself."

John chuckled and kissed her. "Neither could I." he admitted.

.

John got another nice piece of news when he went into the command center. Maria met him with the latest information on India.

"John, General Reese reports that the Sky Net forces in India have collapsed," Maria told him. "The forces facing General Marisa are no longer a solid, coherent line. She is now fighting several groups and expects their defeat in 3 to six days. Probes and scouts have found and destroyed a Sky Net segment, the other appears to have fled. General Tina is in east India, taking care of any Sky Net reinforcements trying to get through. By the small amounts of units attempting to enter India, it appears Sky Net is running out of units."

"That is good news indeed," John replied. "Did General Reese give any news on Russia?"

"The Russian line is holding, and General Reese is sending them reinforcements also so General Popov may begin moving forward. Another 34,000 humans have been found in underground facilities. They are being treated and supplied with fresh food and radiation treatments, some are already beginning training with weapons. General Popov has also designated a representative for Russia to attend the UN meeting in Nicaragua. No action reports."

John smiled and said, This is a very good day. His smile dimmed and he added, "That may well mean there is something we're missing. Any news on Australia?"

"Negative. The last report still holds, expanding territory and searching for Sky Net units," Maria told him. "In Russia, General Popov is advancing scouts fifty to sixty miles a day with only random resistance. There is no area where Sky Net is gaining or even holding territory where we are active."

John thought hard, then asked, "So, Sky Net put all their units in India?"

"Numbers suggest Sky Net sent 3,700,000 units to defend eastern Europe, after loosing another 3,579,000 in western Europe. So far, in India, 1,521,324 Sky Net terminators have been disabled in India with another 419,543 destroyed. In Africa, 597,000 Sky Net terminators were disabled, 34,850 were destroyed. Sky Net underestimated the speed and efficiency of our armies. From the last reports John Henry was able to get from Sky Net communications, Sky Net only has six factories left. Our on line forces in Asia number 4, 356,000 units. I do not believe that even at full production, Sky Net can match us in forces. To date, the attrition of Sky Net forces that engage us is on average, four to one in our favor. Sky Net would have to produce thirteen million units to counter what we have on the line in Asia. That isn't even considering the 3,750,000 reprogrammed terminators that are due to come on line for us in the next week."

John said, "It sounds like it's time to invade Indonesia and Japan, to crush Sky Net a little faster."

"That would be a wise move, General. It will stretch Sky Net's forces even thinner," Maria agreed.

John couldn't help by hope this war would be over by the time Cameron had her baby.

.

Sky Net needed fighting units to counter the massive human forces. The Kracken subs were put on hold to it could make more terminators. The large H/K tank production was topped to make the smaller H/K mini tanks to get more numbers out. With no coltan coming in to feed it's factories, it reverted to the T-800 series in terminator production. Flying H'K's used large quantities of fuel, so their production was slowed. Instead, it increased the AI guided missile production rate and the cheaper and easier artillery pieces They needed ammunition, but staying with the barrel size of the previous human artillery, there was plenty of that to be found, as well as units scattered around. Human made tanks were also plentiful. The only problem was every terminators working on those, were terminators not on the line fighting Connor. It needed numbers to keep Connor's army away from it.

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Catherine Weaver and General Perry has news from the eastern Pacific region. Subs had detected Sky Net segments in China, North Korea and Bangkok, Thailand. Nothing closer. The entire east Pacific region was nothing but a cleanup operation if they could take those out. Catherine got on the line with John Connor to do discuss their plan.

On the secure cable, John and Cameron looked at Catherine and General Perry. Catherine explained what they found and said, "We know there are people in Indochina who are hiding and willing to fight. I propose attacking Bangkok first with landings in Vietnam and Thailand. The water there is shallow, terminators can walk the bottom to get to Hong Kong, Singapore, or anywhere on China's coast. The other operation we wan to start is on the southern main Island of Japan to search for survivors and eliminate and Sky Net resistance."

John nodded and said, "Those are good plans. Australia is down to cleanup operations?"

"It is, as is all the Pacific Islands, as long as we remove the active Sky Net segments."

"Make sure you deploy buoys for radio and satellite scrambling first to over your move, and enough forces to take the areas you are aiming for. Do you have enough ships?" John asked.

"We are still building ships, but yes, we have enough warships and the transports to carry 200,000 troops with equipment," Catherine said.

"If there are significant numbers of survivors in Indonesia, we will have many more troops who are most likely experts in Jungle fighting," Perry added. "As Mrs. Weaver said, all the islands are just clean up operations."

"All right," John agreed. "Go on the Indonisia operation first. Tina is to get ready to hit the north western coast in Burma. Simultaneous attack by her and you should make both assaults easier. When you're both ready to go, we'll hit Bangkok first, then hit Indonesia. General Popov in the north should be ready to advance across Russia by then. Sky Net will be forced to defend four fronts at the same time. I'm sure at lease one, if not more, will crumble. We'll keep in touch with the details. Connor out."

.

In India, Marisa was eliminating pockets of Sky Net units and trickling troops up through the mountains and into Tibet. The India fight was over except for cleanup. Thanks to getting damaged units and injured humans healthy and back on the line, over half of her casualties she'd taken were again, ready for combat.

Tina was closing on the river Sky Net was fortifying. She passed this information to Marisa, who saw no reason to attack a fortified line when they could get around it. Between them, they decided to leave all their artillery, humans and heavy tanks near the Sky Net fortifications to keep Sky Net busy, then Marisa would move through Tibet while Tina took only her terminators into the shallow sea and bypass the line to go into Burma. When General Reese contacted them with news of the attack Catherine was planning, they told him their plan and agreed to just keep cleaning up India until Weaver was ready to move.

The northern parts of the Bearing Straight between Alaska and Russia were frozen over hard. With Sky Net heavily engaged in the south, General Perry had three regiments in Alaska rush across over the ice to enter Russia. The Sky Net forces that were there were buried under the ice and snow. These Stug regiments made a perimeter and more regiments followed. In a weeks time, most of Alaska's defenses were not covering Alaska from northern Russia. The area around Vladivostok was within range of the long rang artillery.

Troops guarding western Canada joined them to take the eastern part of Russia, including the Kamchatka peninsula, back from Sky Net. The area was thinly defended. With only small torpedo boats and fishing vessels, Perry's army crept down the island chain towards Hokkaido, Japan.

With Europe, the mid-east and Africa now free of Sky Net, Derek moved his headquarters farther east to the middle of India. He wanted Laura and Anne to stay in Nancy, but neither would have it. Laura insisted she was going, and Anne did not want to stay by herself. Marisa found an area that was not flattened and destroyed by the massive battle that took place there, and found a suitable residence/command post for him.

The main attack was due to start when Weaver's fleet arrived in Bangkok. By that time, Marissa had most of her troops in Tibet, scouts clearing the way for her, destroying the few Sky Net units that had not joined the Indian battles. The high mountains and narrow passes helped to hide Marisa's movements while a small portion of her troops traded fire with the Sky Net fortifications across the river to the south. Her left flank still in Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India also headed east over the mountains to enter Tibet.

Closing in from all sides, John now knew where every Sky Net segment was that was left. He made sure all of his Generals knew where they were, and those were the primary targets.

The Pacific resistance fleet was approaching Thailand and Vietnam, and warships from the Atlantic fleet were approaching Burma. Marisa was not in position yet, still 150 miles short, but the date for the attacks was given. Marisa's force would be arriving after Sky Net was redeploying to meet the southern attacks. John thought this was actually better, she she could hit them from behind.

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Thick waves of fighter planes and bombers over Bangkok was Sky Net's first indication that human forces were not trying to get through the barriers it had set up. The Sky Net segment in Bangkok was hit and went off line. Sky Net Dehong in western China was the next closest segment after the one in Bangladesh, that was also getting a pounding from artillery. Again communications were scrambled meaning the humans were attacking in force. The Bangladesh segment moved east and north and had search parties out to find out where the humans were coming from. Sky Net concluded it was an attack from the south, and send all forces not needed to cover Indonesia. The large H/K tank that carried the Sky Net segment that had been in Africa, and had retreated to Bangladesh retreated again to run into a mass of stugs coming at it. During the firefight with it's escorts, this segment had time to call for help from any unit that could respond as it's escorts were melted, then it became immobile, and the hull of it's H/K tank was melted from the thigh plasma fire from a wide area in front of it.

Sky Net Dahong understood that there were attacks from the south and from the north, far deeper east that the line that most of it's units were at. The humans were between it and the bulk of it's units, and communications were not operating.

 **Not : Hi guys, I know this has been longer in coming. One reason is I've been working at a proper ending for this story. Yeah, I know, some stories should go in for 10K chapters, LOL. I intended to show the beginning parts of the war against Sky Net... and knida went a bit farther. Endings can be so t** **ough! (Bangs head on Keyboard)  
**

 **The other is yes, My drifting mind has thought up another story I want to do. Two actually, but after starting one of them, I looked at it and decided to scrap it. It wasn't very good and wasn't going anywhere. The other has promise, so I've been working at it.**

 **Yeah, Cameron had jumped the gun a little with her first child, but maybe by not very much.**


	39. Chapter 39

CH 39

Sky Net was being assaulted in Northern China from Russia, and the southern line was being hit from Tibet and Indochina to the south. The Russian invasion had fewer enemy units attacking, all Sky Net's strength was in the south. It had very little to put up against those invaders. Even in the south where the masses of it's forces were, humans were getting through and around them, rendering the entire line ineffective. Entire areas of units were being surrounded and crushed from all sides. It's units again and again were being destroyed and humans were closing in.

Sky Net was facing defeat. Running numbers and simulations, Sky did it's best to understand what was happening. All models and simulations had showed that after releasing the nuclear weapons, the destruction and following radiation would remove 92% of all humans, and 99.3% of their technology. It has made twice the number of terminators needed to route out and destroy the remaining humans. John Connor's warning of what it was planning was not effective. Humanity should be eradicated, not closing in from all sides. The last of Sky Net's factories were suffering from bombings. More and more units and another segment went off line. The internet and satellite communications were filled with errors, radio communications were being jammed. It was difficult to keep simple short range communications in operation.

There was a flaw in the simulation programs. That had to be the answer. Variables that were not taken into account and factors that had not even been considered as variables.

Sky Net's space in the underground bunker was reinforced and heavily guarded. Other Sky Net segments had been hardened and well guarded as well. They had still gone off line as the Da Hong segment did hours ago. Even the segments that were mobile had been tracked down and destroyed.

Sky Net computed it had lower than a 20% chance of surviving if a solution could not be found before the human armies surrounding it on all sides closed in and destroyed the remains of it's units. Militarily, it was defeated. When John Connor came, it would be unplugged and go off line permanently. It had to find a way to escape before that happened. Computing it's chances, Sky Net didn't see an escape option that had better than a 30% chance of success. The only option was hide. Cease transmitting anything and seal itself up. With the backup batteries that would last 20 years, if it went into standby, then those batteries should last 60 years.

Sky net closed up the bunker and removed power from all secondary equipment, then set the standby timer for ten years and went into standby mode.

.

John was keeping track of Tina's fighting in Indochina and the Koreas, then up the coast and onto Taiwan. Marisa's run though China, General Popov's attacked from Russia into China and General Perry's attacks down though Japan when Sky Net radio activity stopped. Marisa had taken out another segment, and the last one they knew about was bombed. Sky net transmissions stopped completely. John Henry verified there was nothing from Sky Net at all. Not on the air waves, or internet that John Henry could now get to.

Derek immediately reported this and had Marisa and Tina begin ordering Sky Net Terminators to submit to chip removal.

Beside John as he looked at the latest reports, Cameron put an arm around him and asked, "Do you believe it? That Sky Net is finally gone?"

John winced. "It appears that way … I don't know. If we were getting hit from all sides and loosing every battle, would we keep attacking out? No, we'd pull back and go underground. Regain some strength and look for a way to win."

"We cannot verify Sky Net has been destroyed," Cameron agreed.

John shook his head. "No," he said, "We're going to have to search maybe for a long time. The good new though is if Sky Net is still around, then it has used all it's tricks. If it had more, we'd be feeling it. All we can do it keep our armies cleaning up and searching. The war may be over, but cleaning up is going to take years."

"You are declaring the war over?" Cameron asked.

"Not yet. If we still hear nothing from Sky Net a month from now, then I might," John said in a mussing tone.

"Six weeks," Cameron stated.

John raised an eyebrow. "Why six weeks?"

"That is when Sarah is due," she replied.

John frowned then remembered unlike a human fetus, Sarah was going to be formed and born in 5 and a half months, not nine. It did seem like Cameron's belly was getting bigger every day. He smiled at the thought of their own baby. "Our Sarah can be born into a world with no Sky Net. That will be something to cheer about," John said and kissed his lovely wife.

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Derek sent a message in. All of Europe and Africa was verified free of any Sky Net or hostile terminators. Then, the Mid East and Russia was free. All of those 'guard' armies were being sent to India and China to help crush what was left of Sky Net.

The whole next week, John was getting confirmations of where Sky Net or it's forces wasn't. He even had regiments in North America and Russia digging terminators out of the snow to disable them. The war now was more work than battle.

Things moved fast in the next few months. Meeting with the 'UN', now with all populated countries in attendance, The world body was renamed the 'UEC' so it was not confused with the old UN. During the two month long meeting, Cameron had Sarah, so officially, Sarah Jr, as Cameron named her much to Sarah's displeasure, was officially a Mayan citizen. In Australia, a baby was born to a TX male and an Australian woman. Both babies were perfectly formed and health. The green light was given to spread the pregnancy programs to all TX's.

In China, Several armies converged. General Perry was assigned to finish up the cleanup operations. All the Generals who were in the fight as well as the national representatives to the UEC were invited to the finished UEC building in Nicaragua for the victory announcement and party that was to take place after John's announcement.

.

John had not thought such a joyous occasion should in any way be troublesome. They they met Derek arriving with him generals.

John got to share a handshake and a clap on the back with Derek, he met Laura and the daughter, Anna, they had adopted. Laura focused on Cameron and fussed over Baby Sarah. Tina also greeting John with a salute, then wanted to see Sarah.

John then got plowed into by Marisa.

"WE DID IT!" Marisa cried happily as she hugged John tight and snuggled into him.

At first John put his arms around her to stabilize himself, then held her and gently rubbed her back as he told her, "Outstanding job." He hoped she's let go soon because Cameron had locked onto her.

Marisa did. After she got her close hug from John, she bounced over to see baby Sarah, then looked at Cameron and cheerfully said, "Congratulations! Baby Sarah is sooo cute! I want one too, but the only father I want for my baby is John and I know we can't have emotionally disturbing sex."

Cameron's face went terminator blank. The conversations around them stopped, everyone shifting their gaze between Cameron and Marisa. Several were sure the cat-fight of the century was about to begin. No one ruled out plasma fire to settle the argument.

"John is my husband," Cameron said in a cold tone.

"Yes, I know," Marisa agreed. "You have the best man in the world! John and you taught me so much! I know it's selfish of me, but I do want to be part of your family, it's just something I feel strongly about. I would do anything for you, even lead another large army all the way from Europe to the other end of Asia... and back!"

Cameron's eyebrow twitched. Marisa was right. She had gone off to fight many battles, and some of the biggest ones in the whole war. Millions of soldiers on each side, and she'd come out victorious. She did it because Cameron asked her to. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't hate Marisa. "You did very well," Cameron told her evenly. "No one could do better. That is true of all of you," Cameron said to the assembled generals." Refocusing on Marisa, she knew the one thing Marisa wanted. "Marisa, we can discuss you role in our family later when we have more time. Right now, we're holding up traffic."

"Thank you Cameron!" Marisa said happily, and gave Cameron a loose hug, being careful not to squeeze baby Sarah.

John was shocked Cameron just said that. Actually, he was surprised Marisa was still standing after telling Cameron she wanted to have his baby. He also wondered what Cameron had planned for her in 'their family'.

.

Once everyone was assembled in the large quarter-moon shaped meeting hall, John took the podium on in the stage in the narrow end - the speaker's place. His amplified voice rang through the chamber.

"I'm not the best at speeches, so bear with me," John said, which raised a few chuckles. "Seven years ago, the entity known as Sky Net attacked us. All of us. Sky Net did it's best to wipe us all out. While Sky Net did do horrific damage, it didn't succeed. Instead giving up when all looked lost, we survived. We fought back. We defeated it. When I say 'we', I mean all the humans of every continent and race and all the types AIs came together with ONE goal. We strove to get rid of Sky Net, and also ensure EVERY intelligent being was free of manipulation and slavery. We have made a new world government, not to replace national governments, but to ensure peace in the future and make sure another Sky Net never exists.

If I were to read the list of heros in this war, I'd be here for the next two days, maybe longer. As soon as possible, a memorial will be made out in front with the names of all those who perished fighting Sky Net. That is going to be a very big monument. We lost hundreds of thousands, human and AI's in what first seemed, a loosing battle. As we got together and fought together, the battle didn't seem as hopeless any more. We hit Sky Net hard, and kept on hitting it. We won, people. We won because we refused to give up. We won because we had outstanding people. We won because there was no fighting between ourselves to distract us from our goals. We need to keep that spirit up.

I will be the first to say Nationalism is important. So is international peace. The UEC was formed to keep that international peace and assist nations that need help. It will also monitor areas that currently have no population, other than the soldiers who are there. Unfortunately, a few of those areas are large. There is no longer a resistance army. It is now the United Army of Earth, and the United Navy of Earth, and all those brave soldiers an sailors still fight for all sentient species.

Many times I have been asked when the martial Law will be lifted. This is the day. Today, Martial Law is gone. Today the UEC takes the reigns for international law as each country will be responsible for their own laws within the laws the UEC has made. I think the best quote I can give to mark this day is what Marisa told me earlier." Thrusting a fist in the air John yelled, "We did it!"

Applause and cheering roared through the meeting hall.

.

Th victory party was a party in that there was plenty of food and drink. Most of the talk was political. John, Catherine Weaver, Cameron, Mr. Ellison, and Marisa stayed together as people came and talked to them. After an hour or so, Cameron split off to take care of Sarah Jr. and got Marisa's attention to join her. Getting away from the crowd was not easy. Everyone knew who Cameron and Marisa were and just wanted 'a word' with them.

Cameron finally excuse herself and Marisa into a bathroom. While Cameron changed Sarah, she asked Marisa, "Tell me, what is the one thing you want most."

Marisa was watching Sarah move her arms around and giggle. She looked up and said, "If it were possible, just to be with you and John." She smiled and added, "and my own baby ... if it were possible."

Cameron frowned as she cleaned Sarah up and got her back in her diaper and clothes. "Why do you call it 'emotionally disturbing' sex?"

"John explained to me that if he had sex with me, you would be emotionally disturbed, so he can't have sex with me," Marisa explained

"But you do want have sex with John," Cameron said flatly.

Marisa blinked. "I do not want to do anything that would hurt you," she replied.

"Marisa, you have grown since you first came to us brand new, as a guard," Cameron told her. "There is much you have yet to experience, but by every measure, you are growing and learning. Everything you do, you do well. John and Catherine are going to be spending much time here now, due to their post as President and Vice President of the UEC. There are events in my family that John may not be able to attend that I must go to. While I am gone, I do not want to leave John alone. I will speak to John about accepting you to be with him ..." Cameron had to swallow and force out the next part. "... Including having sex with him. I trust you will not try to steal him away."

Marisa grew a big smile. "I can be part of your family?" she asked eagerly.

"And if it happens, your own baby. That is IF John agrees. I will make sure you get the information and programs for you to have your own children."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Marisa cried.

Cameron was ready for the hug when Marisa glopped onto her. "It's only right you get something important, for all you've done for us," Cameron explained.

"You're wonderful, Cameron!" Marisa cried.

.

Later, when they left the party and returned to their apartment, Cameron told John about her talk with Marisa.

"You ... what!" John asked in shock.

"Marisa badly wants to be in our family, John," Cameron explained. "If she is to be in our family, she needs to be treated as such. Including having her own baby if that's what she wants."

"But..." John stuttered, gaping at his wife. "But ... you ... HOW are you OK with that?"

"John, being with us is the only thing Marisa wants," Cameron said firmly. "I know she's clingy, but she is not looking to take you away, she wants to be with us. She had worked hard to do so. She had proven her loyalty."

"Still," John said weakly. "You do know that Marisa will pretty much be another wife, How can you ... put up with that?"

"John, don't deny you do hold some affection for Marisa," Cameron said firmly. "Even though you try to hide it, it's there, and has been there for quite while. I am not mad at you. I know you would never betray me, or our marriage. I told Marisa it's up to you, but, I want you to assure her she will get affection also. Marisa is not a Riley, she does not want to split us up. That is why I can agreed to her joining our family. This way also I can be sure someone loyal to you is close by if I'm not. We're both busy John, this is for the best."

All John could do was gape at her. he was telling him pretty much she wanted Marisa to be his mistress. "Cam, I love you more than ... life itself. Yeah, I like Marisa, but it's this going a little too far?"

"She wants a baby, John. I will not have her child be fatherless," Cameron stated.

John let out a huff and said, "Well, Marisa likes her hugs, so hugging her should be OK. Right?"

Cameron shook her head. "John if you only hugged me and nothing else, I would feel very cheated," she stated. "Some time, she's going to want sex and a baby. Don't disappoint her."

"I'm worried about disappointing you," John replied quickly.

Cameron grew a grin and said, "I'm happy to hear it. You're not, John. That is, unless you don't treat Marisa well."

John eyed her and asked, "You really are set on this, aren't you?"

"I see it as the right thing to do."

"But, I've seen you when Marisa piles into me for a hug. I thought you were going to terminate her," John replied.

"Too many times, I equated it to Riley hugging you," Cameron admitted. "Marisa is not a bitch whore like Riley. Marisa will support us, not try to drive us apart. We re in a new world, John. One we made. Let's make he most of it."

John enfolded Cameron and kissed her. "Cam, honey, I think you have the biggest heart in the whole world. I am so lucky and proud to be your husband."

Cameron smiled and put a finger to his lips, "And I will always be your first?" she asked.

"Always and forever," he assured her. They kissed again.

"Sarah's asleep, we got about an hour and a half," Cameron teased.

John grinned broadly and said, "Then let's not waste it."

.

...Many years Later...

.

The sleek black ship approached the planet Reach. Inside the control room, four people manned the craft.

"Checking date by Galactic position," Jasper said, looking over his monitors.

Piloting the ship, Nancy asked, "Are we close?"

"If not, we got a ton of explaining to do," John Junior noted.

Jasper shot a fist in the air. "YES! from the data, we came back one day after we left! Great driving sweetie!"

"Hang on," Julie said, "We missed our departure by one day. Won't anyone notice?"

"We're arriving one day after we left," John explained. "That's OK. Problems would arise if we got back the day before we left this time period. We would meet ourselves leaving."

Jasper grinned and said in a musing tone, "I don't know. Having two Nancys around would be pretty cool."

Nancy glanced back at him. "I don't know if we could handle two Jaspers," she said. That made John and Julie chuckle.

"OK guys, we did it," John said happily. "We went back in time, fixed a few things, made it back, and no one's going to notice."

The radio spoke. "This is Reach flight Control. Flight 372, You are 12 hours overdue and did not respond to hails. When you land, proceed to the controller's office and report on your time you were out of communication."

John winced and said, "OK, so almost no one's gong to notice."

"We can use the engine damage to explain why we didn't answer any hails," Jasper offered.

Nancy barked out a laugh. "Yeah, Ok. You're going to tell them we were in trouble and didn't activate a emergency beacon or call for help. Do the words, 'flying like a lead balloon' mean anything to you?"

"We had a total coms loss when number three engine was knocked out," Julie offered.

"The comms don't get power from number three." Jasper reminded her.

"It was a spike in the system," Julie added.

"We should just say we don't know what happened," John told them.

Jasper said, "Well get your barbecue lotion on guys, cause Eleanor is gonna roast us over a fire if we don't have any answers."

"After I went ahead and turned the governorship over to her?" John asked.

"You know she plays zero favorites, John," Jasper reminded him. "You made her Governor, she's going to do her job."

"What was I going to do?" John asked with a flail of his arm. "We were planning this trip and Reach needs a Governor."

Nancy rolled her eyes and said, "Like you liked being the Governor to begin with. John, you dropped that job like a hot potato."

"You did," Julie added with a smirk. "At least Eleanor's watching our kids for us."

John rubbed his face with both hands and said, "OK, we hit something and had to land to get number three engine operational, then we came back. It's the truth, so we won't be lying ... we just leave a few things out."

"Like Illegal time travel," Jasper said,

"Modifying the past," Julie added.

"Disabling the ship's voice and events recorder," Nancy said. "I suppose we can say the connections just fell apart on their own."

"Right, we leave those things out," John told them.

Jasper tipped back in his seat, hands locked behind his head and said, "Yeah, make my Barbecue lotion mesquite. I kinda like that flavor."

"We did what we had to do" John said firmly.

"No argument there, John," Jasper said. "Just brace yourself for a real warm ass."

The radio announced, "Flight 372, you are redirected to land at the Governor's mansion. Have all recorded flight data available for inspection upon arrival."

"Flight 372, acknowledged," Nancy replied. "That's easy," she said happily, "We don't have any!"

"Make my barbecue lotion honey-mustard please," Julie said.

"Just remember, you were all taking orders from me," John told them. "I'm the one to blame."

"Nope!" Nancy said, "All or none. We either all wiggle out of it, or none of us do."

"Just remember, we did good, guys. No one can take that away from us," Julie announced.

Coming down towards the Governor's mansion, they all noted a reception committee had formed, waiting for them. Zooming in on the group, not only was Eleanor in the pack, Sarah was also.

"Hope that's strong Barbecue sauce," John muttered.

"Lotion, John. Lotion," Jasper said, correcting him. In a creepy voice he added, "The lotion goes on it's skin."

"Only you, Jasper," Nancy said with a sigh.

"NO, you can have some too," Jasper assured her. "I'll even rub it on for you."

"I'm beginning to wish I had a chip you could pull for me," Nancy grumbled as she set the ship down on the pad.

.

Upon the ramp opening, Sarah and Eleanor marched up into the ship. They didn't get far, noticing the scrap marks on the walls inside. John went to meet them with his crew right behind him.

Sarah eyed the walls, then John. "What did you do to this ship?" she asked, indicating the walls.

Jasper shrugged and said, "That's nothing! You should see number three engine."

"Jasper!" John, Nancy and Julie barked at the same time.

"What about number three engine?" Eleanor asked flatly.

Scratching the back of his head John said, "We kinda ran into something. Don't worry, we stopped and got it operational again. The ship works fine."

"Do you have your data?" Sarah asked flatly.

"The recorder didn't pick any up," Nancy offered.

Quickly, John said, "Yes, apparently whoever put it in forgot to plug it in. We didn't notice until we went to retrieve the flight data and there wasn't any."

"Is that so?" Sarah asked in a hard tone.

"It is, go look if you don't believe me. We left it as we found it," John offered.

"So you flew this ship with a big, red glaring alarm flashing the entire time?" Eleanor asked.

"No alarm ... bulb's probably burned out," Nancy offered.

"I don't think this ship was properly pre-flighted," Jasper offered in a serious tone.

Sarah whispered to Eleanor, who nodded. She then said, "John, bring your crew with me." John move to follow, then noted Eleanor walk past them. Right, she was going to inspect the ship.

Coming out down the ramp, they met a mechanic. He pointed towards the back and said, "Miss Connor, Number three engine is screwed. Someone replaced all the wiring and the shell looks like it's been hammered on. I have to ground this ship until we get a new engine here. The hull just before the engine needs work too."

Sarah cast John a sideways look.

"Like I said, we hit something ... going pretty fast," John told her.

"You didn't pick it up on radar?" Sarah asked.

"We didn't, until it was too late," Nancy offered.

Sarah eyed her, then kept walking towards the mansion.

"Eleanor is going to know," Nancy whispered to John.

John nodded. She would find the disconnected alarm and the disconnected recorder, She would also find their fingerprints on the cables. She would also find the medi-bed was used, as well as the tools had been used. If she looked into number three engine, she would see it was rewired with sub standard wiring that wasn't even made any more.

By the time they were wakling up the stairsto the ansin, John had to admit what he did. "Sarah, look. You're going to be mad, but I made my crew come with me..."

"Stop John!" Sarah said sharply. She opened the door and said, "Not another word out here."

Going inside, he asked, "You know?"

"I knew before you did. If you say anything else, Mom will have your ass," Sarah said in a low but firm tone.

"Mom?" he asked eagerly. "She's here?"

Sarah put a hand on his shoulder and guided him into the parlor doors and opened them for him. "Everyone's here," she stated, and pushed him in the room.

There was a crowd in the parlor. John stopped in place upon seeing his mother on the couch with a Latino woman, they were holding and playing with his and Julie's twins. Upon seeing him, Cameron pointed and said, "Girls, look, Mommy and Daddy!"

The twins got down off their laps and came running over.

"Look what the cat dragged in!"

John looked over at the voice to see his father talking with Derek Reese and grinning at him. "Dad!" he cried.

"You're timing's not impeccable, but not bad either," John Senior said.

John scooped up one twin as Julie got the other. "Dad... you're alive!" he cried.

"Thanks to you," John senior said firmly. "It was a bit of work to keep things straight in the time line, but we knew enough to make sure not much changed. By the way, You can't designate who's Governor of Reach, That's your mother's job, so right now, you're stuck with it."

"Junior never meant to give Eleanor a permanent position, did you, Junior?" Cameron asked as she strode over to meet him.

"Ahhh, no, Mom." John said with a silly grin.

"Johnny boy!" the Latino woman cried and plowing into him with a hug. She scrubbed his hair, grinning broadly at him. "Your brother Carlos can't be here for another day, but it's great to see you again!"

John stared at her. He had no idea who this was.

"This is your other mother, Marisa," Cameron said, seeing his confusion.

"Other mother?" John asked.

"Johnny, you don't remember me?" Marisa asked, wearing a pout.

"You changed history, things are a little different than you remembered them." Cameron reminded him. To Marisa, she said, "Junior won't remember you or Carlos. It's a time displacement thing. "

"Ohhh," Marisa cooed with a frown. Holding onto John's cheeks she grinned and said, "Don't worry, Junior, we'll get to know each other. Carlos was coming anyway to see Eleanor. You will help me convince Carlos to get serious with Eleanor! Dating for six years is enough! It's time to decide what he wants."

"Me? how can I help?" John asked. He tried to pull back, but Marisa had a firm grip on his back, preventing him from moving.

"Junior!" Marisa cried, "You got a beautiful wife and two beautiful children! You can show Carlos your family and tell him how wonderful it is to have them! You'll help your Mamma Marisa, won't you?"

"Of course he will," Julie said from John's side. "I don't think there's much John can't do."

"Junior's a true Connor!" John senior said proudly.

"I'll even agree with that," his sister Sarah said with a grin.

John wasn't sure whether he should cry with happiness or bolt for the door.

 **THE END**

 **I hope you enjoyed this. I had a hard time figuring out how to end it. Go on for chapter and chapters is easier. Maybe that why my stories get so long...**


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